There’s no doubt, China is the new frontier of shopping, and despite a predicted slower growth in the upper segment in the coming years, this vast consumer market has sufficiently matured to sustain new and alluring retail initiatives. Beijing has had its fair share of glitzy shopping centres and luxury boutiques for quite sometime, but as of late a new haven has opened its doors targeting specifically a young demographic with deep pockets. Wangfujing Street, a shopping thoroughfare near the illustrious grounds of the Forbidden City, has long been known for its motley mix of shops stocking paintings and traditional Chinese arts and crafts, trendy boutiques and upscale chain stores, but also restaurants serving everything from hamburgers cuisine to Chinese delicacies. At both ends, this bustling shopping axis is anchored by department stores, and Dongan Market market sits at the southern tip. This department store has been fully redeveloped into an upscale shopping destination, and the newly opened Dongan Luxemporium forms an integral part.
Occupying a whopping 11,000 sqm. (118,403 sq.ft.) spread over three floors, it’s the newest outpost of the Luxemporium, a Chinese multi-brand luxury retailer which already operates a string of sizeable stores nationwide. The interior design, created by Shanghai-based practice All Design Studio, is awash with references to Chinese architectural elements which are paired with modern technology and three design themes. The ground floor at Dongan Luxemporium, themed Reshape Dongan, sees an accentuated design of ceilings and pillars inspired by traditional Chinese architecture, but tweaked and, as said, distinctly modern. One floor up, shoes and bags and eyewear are showcased in a similar setting with an emphasis on the ceiling although the aesthetic is different, featuring geometric patterns in an industrial style and embedding modern elements. The third floor goes full throttle with the design, featuring an exploration into geometric figures, colour and form, resulting in a coffered ceiling strewn with chamfered square shapes that mimic an elegantly pixelated cloud hovering below an exposed ceiling dipped in a soft blue shade.
Dongan Luxemporium
138 Wangfujing Dajie (Dongcheng)
100006 Beijing
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.
