Beijing

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares199 Views

      Imafuku Architects completes Dongshang bar in Beijing with bamboo surfaces

      by

      Canes of bamboo interlace across the ceiling to form a canopy above guests in this bar in Beijing, China designed by Imafuku Architects.Dongshang – which is shortlisted in the bar interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards – offers an extensive menu of sake and whiskies from Japan, as well as a selection of Japanese dishes.
      When it came to designing the interiors of the bar, Imafuku Architects wanted to use a material that spoke of the bar’s Japanese menu, as well as its Chinese location – bamboo immediately came to mind.

      Bamboo lines the upper half of the corridor leading into Dongshang

      “The history of planting and using bamboo in these two countries can be traced back to ancient times,” explained the studio. “Both Chinese and Japanese people have utilized bamboo as a material for construction, furniture, containers and even art pieces.”
      “Dongshang invites guests on a story of traditional aesthetics and crafting techniques of the two countries through the contemporary reinterpretation of bamboo.”

      Centre for displaced Rohingya women built from bamboo in Bangladesh

      The studio had also become particularly inspired by the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, a group of Chinese scholars, musicians and writers from the third century who would convene in a bamboo grove to escape the turmoil and corruption associated with the royal courts at the time.

      The bamboo is fixed to the walls with brass nails
      Guests are led into Dongshang through a long corridor. The bottom half of the walls here are lined with dark grey terrazzo, while thin strips of bamboo have been affixed to the upper half with brass nails.
      Some of the bamboo strips arch up and away from the wall to form a lattice across the ceiling. Spotlights have been installed directly above the latticework so that, when switched on, light dapples the surrounding surfaces much like “sunshine filtering through tree leaves”.

      A “canopy” of criss-cross bamboo canes appears in the main dining room
      The terrazzo and bamboo-strip walls continue into Donshang’s main dining space. Mushroom-coloured sofas and armchairs have been dotted throughout, arranged around square wooden tables.
      Canes of bamboo have been arranged into a criss-cross-pattern “canopy” on the ceiling, a feature that the studio hopes will lend the room a cosier and more intimate ambience.

      Mushroom-coloured furnishings have been used to dress the space
      More bamboo canes appear at the rear of the room but have been stood upright to create a fluted feature wall behind the drinks bar. Backlit liquor bottles are openly displayed on three-millimetre-thick shelves crafted from steel.
      A splash of colour is offered by the high chairs that run around the bar counter, which are upholstered in sapphire-blue velvet.

      Bamboo canes create a feature wall behind the bar
      Dongshang restaurant will compete in the 2020 Dezeen Awards against projects such as J Boroski by Atelier XY, which is decorated with over 1,000 insects, and The Berkeley Bar & Terrace by Bryan O’Sullivan Studio, which includes a cosy, pink-hued snug where guests can enjoy their cocktails.
      Photography is courtesy of Ruijing Photo.

      Read more: More

    • 125 Shares119 Views

      Xiaoxi Xiong designs greyscale interiors for Fnji office in Beijing

      by

      The “warm sense of the future” depicted in sci-fi movie Her informed the soft grey workspaces that designer Xiaoxi Xiong has created in the Beijing office of furniture brand Fnji.The 1000-square-metre Fnji office is located northeast of central Beijing in the city’s Shunyi district.
      Chinese designer Xiaoxi Xiong was tasked with developing a striking aesthetic for the new office.

      “As the urban planning policy is tightened in Beijing, the resource of distinctive office space is rare now,” explained Xiaoxi Xiong, who leads Tra & Xi Studio alongside designer Lin Yitong. “After long term research, we chose this space in the end.”

      “Its attractive spatial advantages are the top-floor views, daylight, and the two floors which could be constructed freely.”

      Xiong wanted to imbue the office with the same “blurry and warm sense of the future” they saw in the 2013 sci-fi romance film Her, which chronicles how a shy writer gradually falls in love with an artificial intelligence system.

      Precht creates monochromatic interiors for RayData office in Beijing

      Almost every surface in the office – including the floors – has been washed with pale-grey gypsum plaster, selected for its ultra-matte surface finish.

      The plaster has also been made to cover the balustrade and treads of the curving staircase that leads up to the office’s upper level.
      Towards the back of the lower level are a couple of textural feature walls, which Xiong created by pouring semi-solidified gypsum over jumbled piles of broken bricks.

      “It’s such an interesting process to recreate an installation with recycled materials,” Xiong told Dezeen.
      “This work has a new life and exists in the space naturally.”
      Furnishings throughout the office, from the work desks to the cushioned chairs in the glass-fronted meeting rooms, are also grey.

      Two huge slate-coloured planters are installed on the lower level, and a sheer dark-grey curtain extends down from the office’s ceiling to the lower level.
      Sections of the floor are also covered by striped or checkerboard-pattern grey carpet.

      Translucent paper-like blinds hang in front of the windows to lend a soft and hazy light quality to the office interior.
      Some dark-coloured elements, like the rough black stone counter that sits towards Fnji office’s entrance, have been incorporated to “strike out the softness”.

      Much like Xiaoxi Xiong, architecture practice Precht referenced the film Her for its design of a data office in Chaoyang, Beijing.
      The floor, desks and work booths in the office are upholstered in soft grey fabric, which the practice hoped would emulate the way the film “connects technology with a very warm and tactile atmosphere”.
      Dezeen also included Her in its roundup of 10 films with striking interior design to watch under lockdown.
      Photography is by Mobai except for head image by Yu Ling.
      Project credits:
      Lead designer: Xiaoxi XiongArt director: Guqi GaoDetailed design: Juan LiSoft loading design: Yu LiEngineering manager: Mingyu ZhangEngineering execution: Jiahuan Liu

      Read more: More

    • 138 Shares139 Views

      C+ Architects mingles old and new inside Restaurant Ya in Beijing

      by

      A century-old tree soars up through the roof of this restaurant in Beijing, which C+ Architects has decked out with rammed-earth tiles, travertine and timber. Restaurant Ya is nestled amongst the houses, temples and office buildings of the Dafangjia Hutong in Beijing, serving up dishes inspired by the cuisine of China’s Yunnan region. It previously […] More

    • 163 Shares199 Views

      Read and Rest Hotel in Beijing includes a library dedicated to print magazines

      by

      Guests can flick through a curated selection of contemporary publications in this Beijing hotel, which Office AIO has finished with minimal greyscale interiors. Read and Rest Hotel is nestled amongst the winding alleys of Beijing’s Xiang’Er hutong. Office AIO – which completed a coffee bar in Xiang’Er back in 2016 – has designed the hotel’s […] More

    • 113 Shares199 Views

      Precht creates monochromatic interiors for RayData office in Beijing

      by

      Grey upholstery helped architecture studio Precht bring a “human touch” to the interior of this data office in Beijing, which features black walls and white zigzag desks. RayData’s Beijing office takes over the 19th floor of Poly International Plaza, a 31-storey skyscraper completed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill in 2017. The building’s cylindrical form and […] More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Rooms

      MDDM Studio uses yellow to energise interiors of Beijing's House P

      by

      Yellow walls meet stark-white furnishings and colourful terrazzo fixtures inside this bright Beijing apartment, which has been overhauled by MDDM Studio. Spread across the top two floors and roof terrace of a five-storey residential building on the north side of Beijing, House P was designed by MDDM Studio for a young family. The studio, which […] More