East of Shanghai lies Pudong New Area, an expansive district wedged in between Huangpu river and the Yellow Sea which is not only home to the Pudong Airport and Shanghai Disneyland, but also serves as an incubator for a wide range of innovative industries. Within prestigious Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, in the heart of this area, sits ATLATL, a complex of state-of-the-art laboratories which facilitates research and development in the field of life sciences. It’s here, where one of the city’s most striking eateries of late has opened its doors. Also named ATLATL – mind you, the name is taken from Nahuatl, an old Aztec language still spoken today in parts of Mexico, and meaning ‘spear thrower’ – it occupies a previously disused 520 sqm. (5,597 sq.ft.) space in the complex and has been concepted as a relaxing, and dare we say super stylish, social hub for staff members. Local architecture practice Various Associates was commissioned to create a fittingly immersive futuristic setting in which a multi-faceted notion of time is embedded.
The chosen design codes, using people’s general notion of futuristic design, such as circles, curves and a dome ceiling, is fused with Mid-Century modern elements and nods to Modernism, and the result is an understated grandeur and elegance reminiscent of Eero Saarinen‘s iconic TWA Flight Center at John F, Kennedy Airport. Entering the main section, patrons come across an elongated coffee bar, paired with chairs and a striking, backlit canopy. A large cocktail bar lies beyond, paired with bucket seats and flanked on all sides by additional seating and four semi-private booths. Dipped entirely in a soft grey-green hue, it’s captured by a variety of materials, including resin, glass panels and mirror-polished steel, and lends ATLATL a sophisticated visual layering. The design theme is symbolically anchored by a seemingly floating ring, dotted with lightbulbs, in the atrium which runs through the lower and upper areas of the building, and also demarcates the dining section which looks out onto a tranquil garden.
ATLATL
1077 Zhangheng Lu (Pudong New Area)
201203 Shanghai
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
