The Molteni&C and Unifor Shanghai Flagship Store is located in the “Golden Union Shibo” compound on the banks of the mother river, the Huangpu River. The park was once an industrial heritage site with old factory buildings, witnessing Shanghai's urban transformation from the industrial era to the new age. From the perspective of art and culture, the philosophy behind the location choice of Molteni&C Flagship Store in Shanghai has profound significance, representing an important expression of art, design, and cultural exchange.

In the rugged and unrestrained industrial architectural style, Molteni&C Creative Director Vincent Van Duysen brought more possibilities for creation, adapting to new cultural and artistic connotations, and empowering contemporary significance.

“When I started thinking about that project I wanted to create the atmosphere of a Palace, a succession of ordered rooms, perspectives that highlighted the grandeur of the building, being able to visually cross it on the two spatial axes, the longitudinal and the transverse one. Silent but refined spaces, always different from each other, in size and finishes connected by a sculptural staircase, with Details that refer to Chinese culture, in the classic sober/elegant Molteni style,” Vincent Van Duysen explains.

The Brutalist pre-existence of the building was the inspiration for the Store: pre-existing reinforced concrete industrial columns, deliberately left exposed, dialogue with the new spaces, while portals and other elegant metal details scan and divide the domestic spaces of the store.

An alternation of refined and well-proportioned characterizations is the glue between the different functions of the building. A large two-story building that showcases the great Molteni&C world.

Info: Molteni.com

Photos by Jonathan Leijonhufvud