SHANGHAI CUI YU YUAN SHU

The project is located in Songjiang New Town in Shanghai and aims to create a symbol of local Songjiang dialect-infused life and cultural icons. This project seeks to find a new balance between “native nature” and “Shanghai elegance.” We define it as a “new Shanghai aesthetic”: it eschews ornate decorative styles and instead draws inspiration from Bill Bensley’s approach to vacation aesthetics, aiming for a tension that is both dignified and extremely relaxed. We hope to redefine a “time of affluence” suitable for contemporary elites through the transitions and shifts within the space – a form of affluence that does not stem from the accumulation of gold ornaments but from the ability to elegantly waste time in nature here.