Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu
31/08/2016.
[Shanghai Shi] China
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
Shanghai studio Neri&Hu has used wood-covered sticks and sandstone slabs to create a cavernous interior for a new cultural centre in the city's emerging Hongqiao district
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Escalator tunnel. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Zona de recepción. Centro de representaciones y exposiciones, por Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Fotografía @ Dirk Weiblen
Main exhibition hall. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Main exhibition hall. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Detail. Main exhibition hall. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
750-seat performance hall. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Detail. 750-seat performance hall. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Detail. 750-seat performance hall. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Bathrooms. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Photograph @ Dirk Weiblen
Lower basement floor plan. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
Basement floor plan. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
Ground floor plan. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
First floor plan. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
Second floor plan. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
Third floor plan. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
Hall section. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
Escalator section. Theatre and Exhibition Center by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.
The Performance and Exhibition Centre forms the centrepiece of The Hub, a huge mixed-use complex near one of Shanghai's main airports. Architect Ben Wood designed the exterior of the five-storey building, but Neri&Hu was tasked with the entire fit-out.
The studio based its design on natural landscape scenes, in the structures of the roots of the trees, cave ideas and constant layers of translucent images that make up the entire design. Scenography less cluttered than in other last projects, and also more impactful, clean and nitida.
Neri&Hu has worked on a number of projects in its home city, ranging from a house-like Camper shop to a italian restaurants and a hotel in an abandoned former army headquarters.
The studio based its design on natural landscape scenes, in the structures of the roots of the trees, cave ideas and constant layers of translucent images that make up the entire design. Scenography less cluttered than in other last projects, and also more impactful, clean and nitida.
Neri&Hu has worked on a number of projects in its home city, ranging from a house-like Camper shop to a italian restaurants and a hotel in an abandoned former army headquarters.
Description of project by Neri&Hu
The ongoing events and visitors that inhabit this urban oasis, together with the designed spatial elements, bring a transformative and invigorating life to a neighborhood in the making. As Shanghai expands, the Hongqiao District has become its new vibrant neighborhood because of the concentration of Hongqiao Railway and Subway Station, Hongqiao Airport, the new Convention Center and the CBD. The developer Shui On Land, the mastermind behind the Xintiandi development introduced the HUB mixed-use development in the heart of this new district. The highlight of this complex is the Performance and Exhibition Center that is envisioned as the “hot spot” of culture and arts of the new neighborhood.
The interior concept draws inspiration from landscape to create a nature-like environment that provides retreat from the heavily built context and visual overload of contemporary culture. The performance center interior is perceived as a five-story urban oasis in the form of as a solid rock set inside the exterior envelop; spaces are carved out and programmatic elements inserted. Visitors arriving from the subway station find themselves walking into an underground space, with the ceiling covered in metal tubes mimicking the roots of the forest above.
A dramatic escalator tunnel with deep ceiling coves brings one out of the ground into the primary exhibition hall. A floating canopy of wood sticks hovering over the three-story atrium transforms the space into a forest. Gallery openings are wrapped in interlocking solid sandstone and light walnut balustrades. Wherever a visitor is, his/her role as the spectator and the partaker of a performance on stage is constantly alternating as one meanders along the cavernous galleries and bridges. Hidden above at the upper levels is the treasure box – a 750-seat performance hall with floating screens, associating with the bamboo slips from ancient China to “record” the stories inside. One can discover other delightful spaces carved into the sandstone mass throughout – golden toilet cubicals; cigar room, salon, and bars as wooden houses inserted into the rock; halls of mirror in black-glazed tiles with green toilet rooms; bronze elevator cabs; private VIP rooms dressed in hand-painted tiles that narrate the story of Hongqiao District’s humble past; and a golden trellis inside the VIP Lounge dotted with intricately crafted pendant lights.
More information
Interior architect and designer
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Design team
Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu, Dirk Weiblen, Ellen Chen, Josef Zhou, Karen Lok, Mark Zhang, Cristina Felipe, Yiran Wang, Lorna de Santos, Yutian Zhang, Sophia Panova, Isabelle Lee, Brian Lo, Zhao Yun, Xiaowen Chen, Christine Neri, Siwei Park, Litien Poeng, Haiou Xin
Location
Shao Hong Lu, Minhang Qu, Shanghai Shi, China
Area
15700.0 sqm
Project Year
2015
Decorative lighting
Flos, Neri&Hu
Architectural fixtures and fittings
Toto, Kohler
Furniture
Stella Works, de la Espada, Neri&Hu, Hay
Accessories
Neri&Hu
LYNDON NERI - ROSSANA HU NERI&HU
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, founded in 2004 by partners Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, Neri&Hu Design and Research Office is an inter-disciplinary architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. Neri&Hu works internationally providing architecture, interior, master planning, graphic, and product design services. Currently working on projects in many countries, Neri&Hu is composed of multi-cultural staff who speak over 30 different languages. The diversity of the team reinforces a core vision for the practice: to respond to a global worldview incorporating overlapping design disciplines for a new paradigm in architecture.
Lyndon Neri is a Founding Partner of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, an inter-disciplinary international architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. In 2014, Wallpaper* announced Neri&Hu as 2014 Designer of The Year. In 2013, Mr. Neri was inducted into the U.S. Interior Design Hall of Fame with his partner Ms. Rossana Hu. The practice was the 2011 INSIDE Festival Overall Winner, won AR Awards for Emerging Architecture 2010 by Architectural Review and was selected as one of the Design Vanguards in 2009 by Architectural Record. Mr. Neri received a Master of Architecture at Harvard University and a Bachelor of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to starting his own practice with partner Rossana Hu, he was the Director for Projects in Asia and an Associate for Michael Graves & Associates in Princeton for over 10 years, and also worked in New York City for various architectural firms.
Rossana Hu is a Founding Partner of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, an inter-disciplinary international architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. In 2014, Wallpaper* announced Neri&Hu as 2014 Designer of The Year. In 2013, Mr. Neri was inducted into the U.S. Interior Design Hall of Fame with his partner Ms. Rossana Hu. The practice was the 2011 INSIDE Festival Overall Winner, won AR Awards for Emerging Architecture 2010 by Architectural Review and was selected as one of the Design Vanguards in 2009 by Architectural Record. Ms. Hu received a Master of Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Music from the University of California at Berkeley. Before establishing Neri&Hu with her partner Lyndon Neri, Ms. Hu worked for Michael Graves & Associates, Ralph Lerner Architect in Princeton, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York City, and The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in San Francisco.
