ISSUE 144 THE ART ISSUE DECEMBER 2017 DANIEL HUMM DESTINATION DESTINATION complex in November, and British chef Jason Atherton is expected to open his second Shanghai restaurant inside The Edition hotel on East Nanjing Road by spring 2018. The blossoming culinary scene has been matched by a growing appetite for the arts. The West Bund has trans- formed into a breeding ground for the creative class, where some of the best- Shanghai curated museums and galleries have replaced the abandoned aircraft facto- ries from decades ago. It’s also the site of the annual West Bund Art & Design Fair, with the most recent edition showcasing works from 70 Chinese and international galleries. By 2019, the area will welcome an outpost of Centre Pompidou, which will occupy a gallery in the forthcoming West Bund Art Museum designed by British architect David Chipperfield. The collaboration between the renowned Paris modern-art institution and the West Bund Group—the mastermind and developer behind Shanghai’s own “Museum Mile”—will serve as an important symbol of cultural exchange between France and China. Also in the works is the Dream Center, an enter- tainment venture with ambitions to host Tinseltown-grade film premieres and world-class performing arts. Over in the M50 art district, construction on Heatherwick Studio’s “1,000 Trees” project—an expansive mixed-use development of homes, schools, and China’s most vibrant city to its position as a major port city since the world’s second tallest; the Kohn retail designed to resemble a 3-D for- the 19th century, Shanghai has always Pederson Fox–designed Shanghai est—is also underway. is undergoing a glamorous attracted a large expatriate community, World Financial Center, a.k.a. the Major transformations aren’t hap- transformation that’s whose imprint is reflected in the build- “Bottle Opener”; Jin Mao Tower, by pening just on a macro infrastructural putting it on par with ings of its various neighborhoods— the firm SOM; and the spaceship-like level: The 25 million residents here especially in the former International Oriental Pearl TV Tower, by architect have seen the makeup of their city con- some of the world’s biggest Settlement and French Concession, Jiang Huancheng. tinue to evolve. One thing that has left culture capitals. where a lasting European impact is evi- Across the river, the Bund—a mile- a deep impression on me since my first dent in the city’s architectural heritage. long riverside boulevard lined with visit to in 1998, and even more after I BY DOMINIC NGAI But to simply label the city an intersec- dozens of classic European-style became a full-time resident in 2009, tion of East and West doesn’t quite do buildings that housed the regional is the city’s raw, palpable energy. In it justice. Here, these opposing forces headquarters of trading companies recent years, Shanghai has attracted “Build, build, build” has been China’s don’t just meet: In the new millen- and foreign banks a century ago—has young professionals and entrepreneurs mantra ever since former leader Deng nium, they’ve collided at full speed and morphed into an epicurean and enter- from other cities in China and around Xiaoping launched the country’s trans- amalgamated to transform the city into tainment destination filled with res- the world who want to capitalize on a formational economic improvement one of the world’s most important and taurants by renowned chefs such as market that’s still finding its way but program in the late 1970s. But of all eclectic financial centers. Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Joël has loads of growth potential. Some the mainland’s most improved munici- Shanghai changes often, and it Robuchon. A telling sign of the city’s say the vibrancy reminds them of the palities, Shanghai is perhaps the poster changes fast. What was all farmland prosperity, the list of heavyweight glamorous 1920s and ’30s, and that the child for China’s rapid fiscal growth on the eastern side of the Huangpu chef arrivals continues to grow year city has simply regained its mojo after and urban development in recent years. River just a few decades ago is now the after year. This past summer, Pierre a few tumultuous decades in the mid- While other first-tier cities like Lujiazui Financial District, famous for Gagnaire debuted Le Comptoir at 20th century. “It’s like New York on Beijing or Guangzhou have also the Blade Runner–esque structures the new Capella hotel in the former steroids,” said a friend, summing up Exterior view of Dong Liang. View seen major infrastructural changes, that comprise Shanghai’s iconic sky- French Concession, Yannick Alléno what life in Shanghai feels like today. I from the roof bar of The Waterhouse Shanghai has an advantage in its long line: The 128-story Shanghai Tower by unveiled his Terroir Parisien bistro at couldn’t agree more. > at South Bund. (OPPOSITE) Bar lobby in The Puli Hotel and Spa. history as an international hub. Thanks Gensler, China’s tallest building and the Raffles City Changning shopping THE PULI. COURTESY PHOTO: THE WATERHOUSE. DONG LIANG. COURTESY COURTESY TOP) (FROM PHOTOS: SURFACE 60 61 144_DESTINATION (Simonetta Nieto's conflicted copy 2017-11-17).indd 60 11/17/17 9:57 PM 144_DESTINATION (Simonetta Nieto's conflicted copy 2017-11-17).indd 61 11/17/17 9:57 PM DESTINATION HOTELS It’s been a busy year for Shanghai’s homage to the era’s Jazz Age aesthetics structures from the Ming and Qing hospitality industry, with numerous with Chinese and French touches. Two dynasties—the property was trans- high-profile openings. The standout is highly anticipated arrivals debut this ported nearly 435 miles to its new Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li, housed month, including China’s fourth Aman home in Minhang District. Kerry Hill in one of the few remaining clusters outpost, Amanyangyun. Constructed Architects and landscaping specialists of traditional townhouses. Originally in an ancient forest of camphor trees— from Dan Pearson Studio outfitted the built in the 1930s as residences for a painstaking process overseen by 24 wood-clad suites and 13 antique vil- upper-class families and expatriates, experts hired by entrepreneur and phi- las with courtyards, outdoor freestand- Jaya International Design restored lanthropist Ma Dadong that included ing tubs, and the occasional plunge the interiors of the villas, which pay the restoration of abandoned stone pool. Meanwhile, near bustling West Living room in Amanyangyun. A studio room in The Middle House. PHOTOS: COURTESY AMAN. COURTESY THE MIDDLE HOUSE. AMAN. COURTESY COURTESY PHOTOS: SURFACE 62 144_DESTINATION (Simonetta Nieto's conflicted copy 2017-11-17).indd 62 11/17/17 9:57 PM DESTINATION DESTINATION RESTAURANTS AND BARS The importation of celebrity chefs from the West has started to influence Chinese toque-wearers who generally keep a low profile. There isn’t a better example than hometown talent Tony Lu, whose star has risen thanks to a string of successful Shanghainese res- taurants housed in Concession-era vil- las in the Changning District. His lat- est is Fu He Hui, a shrine to haute veg- etarian cuisine. Natural materials such as stones and wood team with neutral- tone fabrics to create a Zen ambiance— just the setting in which to sample elaborate courses made with hypersea- sonal produce, including the tomato “ravioli,” with smoked mashed potato, egg yolk, pea, and onion powder. If Lu is pushing the boundaries of vegetarian ingredients at Fu He Hui, Paul Pairet’s Ultraviolet defies the norms of gas- tronomy altogether. The chef worked with Magma Design to conceive a mul- tisensory experience that transports 10 diners each night from Mr. & Mrs. Bund—another popular Pairet con- cept—to an undisclosed location for a 20-course tasting journey. Served in a room encased in a 360-degree pro- jection wall, each dish is paired with visual and audio effects, and matching scents. For instance, upon serving the “truffle burnt soup bread,” an image Nanijng Road, Italian architect Piero with handcrafted decorations such of a wintery forest appears, along Lissoni fused his Modernist approach as silk wall coverings and porcelain with the musky aroma of wet soil, to with local inspirations at The Middle vases. The spa’s tea-based treatments enhance the earthy taste of the dish. House: shellac-finished Chinese chests and chef Michael Wilson’s elegant Be warned: Seats don’t come cheap repurposed as sleek cabinets for the Michelin-starred French restaurant (around $600–$900, depending on the minibar; Chinese art incorporated into overlooking Jing’an Park are high- day of the week), and a three-month the headboards of beds. lights. At Waterhouse at South Bund, advance booking is standard. The flurry of ribbon cuttings has Shanghai-based architects Neri & Even as Chinese chefs continue to added variety to the landscape, but a Hu serve up a master class in the inte- raise their stature internationally, the few stalwarts remain as stellar as ever. gration of old and new, with the tact- wave of Western satellites has not Though Shanghai Tower’s J Hotel will ful transformation of a 1930s Japanese abated. One early pioneer was Jean- soon steal the title of the city’s high- army headquarters in the Cool Docks Georges Vongerichten, who brought est property when it opens next year, area. The public spaces and 19 rooms his eponymous fine-dining concept the 174-room Park Hyatt, on the top reference Shanghai’s classic shikumen- from New York to Three on the Bund, floors of the Shanghai World Financial style architecture with cracked con- a Neo-Renaissance-style building, in Center, is still the ultimate indulgence.