Page 95 - AIT0622_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design PIG Design, CN-Hangzhou
Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan
Grundriss Galerieebene • Floor plan level +1
Bauherr • Client Victor Cody, CN-Shanghai
Standort • Location Xintiandi, CN-Shanghai
Nutzfläche • Floor space 1.700 m 2
Fotos • Photos SFAP, CN-Shanghai
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 150
NIGHTCLUB GRNDCNTRL
IN SHANGHAI
With sophisticated lighting architecture and stylistic quo-
tations from Art Deco and the space era, PIG Design have
transformed an old nightclub in the heart of Shanghai
into a futuristic, hip venue. As soon as it’s possible to
party again, the posh crowd will meet here to see and be
seen – the floor plan with a central stage and spectator
galleries is inspired by theatre construction.
T hree. Two. One – Liftoff! David Bowie’s famous song “Space
Oddity” tells the story of a wandering spaceman who breaks
off communication with Earth. The ground staff tries to reach him
by sending out “Ground Control to Major Tom”, but Tom has long
been floating in other spheres – “far above the moon” – the world
is no longer his concern ... Like the hero of the famous space rock
anthem, a post-pandemic party crowd completely starved of glitte-
ring, glamourous nightlife will soon lose contact with Earth in the
Shanghai nightclub named GRNDCNTRL. At least, that’s what the
immersive spatial dramaturgy promises, which the planning team
around Li Wenqiang of PIG Design from Hangzhou developed for
the total floor area of 1,700 square metres. To kick things off in
terms of scenography, the crowd is first led through a dark tunnel
by means of luminous panels staggered in perspective before arri-
ving in the night-black atrium of the nine-metre-high so-called Main
Hall. As in a spaced-out vaudeville theatre, spacious, technoid-loo-
king seating areas are positioned around the dance floor, aligned
with the central DJ desk. Behind it, two ceiling-high canopies of
rhythmically repeated light lines mark the bar area with a backlit
counter front made of polished natural stone. Four massive sup-
ports, clad with sheet steel to form bundle pillars, serve as light
sculptures and visually tie the Main Hall and the gallery level toget-
her vertically. All in all, the canon of forms consisting of rhythmic
lines of force and rounded corners in interplay with an extravagant
range of materials comprising reflective stainless steel, mirrors, lac-
quer and leather surfaces is reminiscent of 1930s Streamline Mo-
dernism, which was inspired by the aerodynamic contours of con-
temporary industrial design. In Shanghai, Art Deco and the space
age now meet the technically elaborate light and sound architec-
ture of the 2020s. And the result makes you want to take off imme-
diately: a retro-futuristic universe in monochrome, in which all spa-
tial boundaries seem to have disappeared.
AIT 6.2022 • 095