GRNDCNTRL, a new flagship nightclub in Shanghai’s Xintiandi, is a theatrical experience designed by PIG Design. The design takes inspiration from the historic Shikumen alleyways and the city’s dynamic nightlife culture. The nightclub features a unique stage design, immersive lighting, and a variety of seating options.
The city is a machine that creates loneliness.
We are all ordinary citizens wearing masks.
Tomorrow’s plot seems to have been written.
Perhaps the author is “I” myself.
— Li Wenqiang
“Xintiandi” is a cultural landmark in the heart of Shanghai, where Haipai culture and Western trends meet and clash. Night Club “GRNDCNTRL”, located in Xintiandi Nanli Square, was carefully crafted by PIG Design, led by designer Li Wenqiang, in collaboration with various domestic and international teams. GRNDCNTRL has become a new concept flagship nightclub, responding to the surrounding high-end fashion outdoor environment and cultural brands, with its trendy and retro party space, trend-leading interactive social activities, and immersive artistic audio-visual performances.
## A storm of time-space switching “entrance”
Art does not test the known reality, but pursues the truth of ideals. The avant-garde experimental and immersive design atmosphere, as soon as you enter the entrance of the passageway, has already knocked on the door of imagination, as if you are entering a surrealist light and shadow secret realm. The interface decoration has a balanced composition like a stage setting. A combination of symmetrical curved lighting devices in sequence, extracting the deep and long lane form of Shikumen from Xintiandi, the linear rhythm guides the experiential journey inward.
## Interpretation on the value of “theater” culture
Entertainment is essentially a popular art, allowing us to restore the nature of the whole person outside of work and professionalism. But the nihilism of “universal entertainment” has eroded values and kidnapped diversity, making it degenerate into an “entertainment for the sake of entertainment” effect.
Different from most nightclubs in Shanghai which are dominated by Underground style homogenization, GRNDCNTRL is positioned as the “cultural center of Shanghai’s nightlife”, using a metaphorical “theater” concept to elevate the hip-hop nightclub to a subversive level.
The word theater originated in Greek, and around 350 BC, the Greeks always built theaters on hillsides so that the audience seats made of stone chairs could overlook the circular performance area.
Continuing the creative inspiration of balance and harmony, the design team used the 9-meter-high main space to narrate and distribute functions around the core of the lift-style DJ stage. The design offers an unprecedented experience, with panoramic views and all the details clearly presented.
## Meaningful “dress-up” ceremony
Stone, mirrors, paint, stainless steel, leather and other materials combine to form a vivid visual communication, yet the main color has nearly a hundred different levels of “black.” The simple and abstract organic curves also break the horizontal and vertical composition and reinterpret classic aesthetics.
Originally belonging to the refined culture of theater performances, the theatrical performance has evolved into a social venue in the public domain through artistic and commercial strategies, but it still retains the quality of value display and experience. The careful design, combined with the advanced sound system and lighting rendering, has created the “ceiling” in nightclub design.
In the subconscious mind of modern people, there is a desire for an actor. Every corner of GRNDCNTRL is filled with the possibility of seeing and being seen, and people will unconsciously abandon their casual attire and choose to “dress up.” The cost of acquiring happiness should not be cheap.
## Personalized, vivid spatial composition
The main hall features a very artistic HIP HOP style, while the small hall features HOUSE & TECHNO LED immersive lighting. The avant-garde artistic future technology and film-like retro texture create a different omnidirectional scene, taking care of different consumer groups as much as possible.
The combination of strong colors, simple design and new materials creates a visual feast of perspective confusion, and the addition of the “theater” concept makes the visual game more complex. The bar uses a retreating design to give the venue to the “stage”, focusing on the people themselves and the music. The restrooms, on the other hand, are imbued with a retro aesthetic that runs counter to the trend, solidifying them as a “backstage” of the theater that provides physical and mental respite and replenishment.
Just as the ancient theater, as a carrier of culture, can accommodate spirit and emotion, and even shape a person’s character. GRNDCNTRL cuts into space from the context of time and city, reshaping a dramatic “improvisational scene”, through the eyes of a black gem, it envisions a kind of thrill that is necessary for modern nerves.
## Project Space Information:
Space Name: GRNDCNTRL
Space Type: Catering Space, Bar Design, Nightclub
Space Address: 5th Floor, Building 6, Xintiandi Nanli Square, No. 123 Xingye Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Design Company: PIG DESIGN
Chief Designer: Li Wenqiang
Design Team: Zhu Yiyun, Yan Junjun, Yang Zhiwei, Liu Chao, Qian Mengmeng, Xiong Jun, Gao Ya, He Di, Tan Shijie, Wu Yicheng, Xiao Fei, Shao Xin Di, Zhao Lili, Shen Tao Tao, Fan Kaiqi, Xiao Mengmeng, Cheng Liang
Lighting and Stage Design: Unreal Production
Lighting Design: Yaank Xiangyang Lighting
Furniture Design: PIG DESIGN
Project Client: Cody, Victor
Space Area: 1700 square meters
Main Materials: Stone, Wood, Stainless Steel, Painted Glass, Paint
Space Photography: Tenon Architecture Photography SFAP
[Source: https://www.sohodd.com/archives/159897]
Project Information:
GRNDCNTRL is a new flagship nightclub in Shanghai’s Xintiandi, located in the 5th floor of Building 6, Xintiandi Nanli Square, No. 123 Xingye Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai. It was designed by PIG Design, led by designer Li Wenqiang, in collaboration with various domestic and international teams. The nightclub covers an area of 1700 square meters, and its main materials include stone, wood, stainless steel, painted glass, and paint. The space photography was done by Tenon Architecture Photography SFAP.
