If it’s not already clear, China is a country that favours huge projects, especially when it comes to the nexus of architecture and cultural institutions. Case in point is Artyzen Sifang, a project that is otherworldly in both scale and ambitions.
Set on a south-facing hill that’s flanked by a lake and woods, the complex of 21 buildings was designed as a destination retreat for MICE and archi- and art-hounds. To this end, 20 bold-faced architects and artists were lured to the project, which includes a contemporary art museum designed by Steven Holl and a villa by David Adjaye.
Taking centre-stage is a 22-room hotel (though, for some reason, the developers prefer to call it a recreational centre) designed by Ettore Sottsass, the façade and vast soaring interior hardscape filled with the Italian architect’s familiar colour blocking.
Without detracting from the bold hues, Hirsch Bedner Associates gamely worked up the soft furnishings with woollen rugs lined with geometric forms, rectilineal sofas with angled sides and white stucco walls for contrast. The views of wooded glens through the bathroom windows are a treat, as are the relatively austere, light-filled spa, and the lounge and foyer – the latter dominated by a soaring double-volumed space that’s capped by a striated skylight.
INFORMATION
Website
ADDRESS
9 Zhenqi Lu
Nanjing
-
All-In is the Paris-based label making full-force fashion for main character dressingPart of our monthly Uprising series, Wallpaper* meets Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø of All-In, the LVMH Prize-nominated label which bases its collections on a riotous cast of characters – real and imagined
-
Maserati joins forces with Giorgetti for a turbo-charged relationshipAnnouncing their marriage during Milan Design Week, the brands unveiled a collection, a car and a long term commitment
-
Through an innovative new training program, Poltrona Frau aims to safeguard Italian craftThe heritage furniture manufacturer is training a new generation of leather artisans
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the worldCelebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
-
Prada and Wong Kar-wai dream up a cinematic restaurant in ShanghaiPrada partners with Wong Kar-wai to bring Mi Shang Rong Zhai to life, a dining experience influenced by the arthouse director’s seminal oeuvre
-
Enjoy heritage views and contemporary brews at a new Beijing caféJM Café, White Pagoda Temple by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio nods to the history of the Xicheng District while injecting a shot of vitality
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designThere’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
China’s Alila Shanghai hotel is a stylish hub of idle tranquillityAlila Shanghai, the brand's first urban resort in Greater China, is a serene bolthole amidst the pulse of the Jing'an district
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
-
Travel back to the Ming dynasty at Beijing’s new Mandarin Oriental hotelMandarin Oriental Qianmen merges traditional culture with contemporary needs in a 600-year-old historical building complex
-
Inside Palazzo Versace Macau, a lavish, mosaic-rich hotelPalazzo Versace Macau, the brand’s first hotel in Asia, continues to preserve Donatella Versace’s swanky hospitality vision
