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Art and fun - it's not just about Me Too
By Nancy Zhang |
April 24, 2009, Friday
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THERE are other converted warehouse creative centers alongside the Grand Canal in Hangzhou but the Ideal 166 Loft has a star attraction - the Me Too Cafe. Nancy Zhang pops in for refreshments and more.
Hangzhou's modern creative industries are often eclipsed by the ancient paintings and poems that the city is famous for. But if you want an interesting change of scene, it is well worth exploring the home grown modern art scene.
One place to start is the Ideal 166 Loft creative hub. Located to the north of downtown Hangzhou, the creative hub plays host to companies involved in the design, architecture, advertising, photographic and other creative industries.
Just 10 kilometers from West Lake, the creative center is part of a newly developing area close to the Grand Canal. The area is still very quiet and its industrial past is tangible. The creative center itself is housed in a series of converted warehouses.
Though there are other converted warehouse creative centers along the Grand Canal, the Ideal 166 Loft has a star attraction - the Me Too Cafe.
Since its opening in September last year, the Me Too Cafe has quietly but steadily gained in popularity. Initially founded by a group of eight designers, architects and photographers who couldn't find a place close to their studios to eat and relax, the cafe attracts visitors with its quirky design, ample natural lighting from its greenhouse patio, and spacious sofas. Many customers relax and stay entire afternoons.
"In the Me Too Cafe the old industrial setting collides with modern design," says one of the founders, designer Chen Feibo. "We found pieces of antique furniture, mixed them and put them together to make new tables and chairs for the cafe. We installed luxury branded lighting with post-industrial era furniture we found in markets. In this cafe, extremely contradictory elements make sense together."
Chen is also the founder of his own design firm and designs all sorts of items from fashion and cutlery to interiors.
The 166 Loft area started eight years ago when advertising mogul Zhou Qing was struck with the unique appearance of a 1950s silk factory on Lishui Road. He rented 6,680 square meters of the factory for offices at the princely sum of 0.5 yuan (7 US cents) per square meter. He invited his friends, including Chen, to join him and open offices there. These early tenants eventually founded the Me Too Cafe.
"In those days we felt we had finally found a home," says Chen. "We are all idealists to different degrees, and the likes of a 'Xintiandi' beside West Lake never appealed to us."
Initially the loft was meant to be a private area for like-minded creative types working together. But in 2007 Zhou decided to open the warehouses as a creative center, inviting more artists to work there, and inviting the public to view their work.
Similarly the Me Too Cafe started off as a private common room and canteen for the inhabitants of 166 Loft and their friends. Its popularity however quickly spread. Finding a never ending stream of visitors, the founders decided to open it as a commercial enterprise.
The atmosphere inside the cafe has stayed refreshingly free of over-commercialization. When we visited on a lazy Sunday afternoon, there was a comfortable scattering of visitors, but not too many. Kitsch items of nostalgia line one wall, and an old sewing machine sits next to toys you might remember from childhood. There are also drawers of music CDs. According to Chen visitors are encouraged to bring their own music to leave it at the cafe, and explore other collections.
Other shelves contain board games, like Monopoly. One boy and his mother could be seen happily whiling away the afternoon playing with wooden blocks.
At night the cafe itself transforms into an indie rock club. A corner facing a giant industrial fan is transformed into a stage regularly throughout the month.
"Grassroots rock bands suit Me Too Cafe's culture. There's character, but it's not boastful, and there's an element of nostalgic warmth," says Chen.
On busy nights these events can attract up to 100 people, mostly local students and young white-collar workers.
The Me Too Cafe is continuing to expand. A Chinese restaurant is being constructed. The design is typically quirky - two rooms have been joined with a rough moongate knocked between the walls. One long table goes through the moongate, a tongue-in-cheek imitation of a formal banquet table.
The rest of the 166 Loft is also being completed curiously - but not quite getting there even two years after it opened. When we visited it was open and we could walk around, but many of the companies have not moved in yet, and signs of construction can be seen here and there.
This lack of sophistication is perhaps a good thing - the place sticks to its idealistic beginnings.
Apart from the cafe and center's contents, another attraction that should not be missed is the elaborate graffiti that covers one of the center's outside walls. Stretching for a few hundred meters, its scale, execution and slightly nightmarish visions are impressive. But one gets the impression it is unplanned - as if it's a spontaneous, compulsive bubbling-over of creativity.
Me Too Cafe
Address: 166 Lishui Rd
Tel: (0571) 8801-9967
Hangzhou's modern creative industries are often eclipsed by the ancient paintings and poems that the city is famous for. But if you want an interesting change of scene, it is well worth exploring the home grown modern art scene.
One place to start is the Ideal 166 Loft creative hub. Located to the north of downtown Hangzhou, the creative hub plays host to companies involved in the design, architecture, advertising, photographic and other creative industries.
Just 10 kilometers from West Lake, the creative center is part of a newly developing area close to the Grand Canal. The area is still very quiet and its industrial past is tangible. The creative center itself is housed in a series of converted warehouses.
Though there are other converted warehouse creative centers along the Grand Canal, the Ideal 166 Loft has a star attraction - the Me Too Cafe.
Since its opening in September last year, the Me Too Cafe has quietly but steadily gained in popularity. Initially founded by a group of eight designers, architects and photographers who couldn't find a place close to their studios to eat and relax, the cafe attracts visitors with its quirky design, ample natural lighting from its greenhouse patio, and spacious sofas. Many customers relax and stay entire afternoons.
"In the Me Too Cafe the old industrial setting collides with modern design," says one of the founders, designer Chen Feibo. "We found pieces of antique furniture, mixed them and put them together to make new tables and chairs for the cafe. We installed luxury branded lighting with post-industrial era furniture we found in markets. In this cafe, extremely contradictory elements make sense together."
Chen is also the founder of his own design firm and designs all sorts of items from fashion and cutlery to interiors.
The 166 Loft area started eight years ago when advertising mogul Zhou Qing was struck with the unique appearance of a 1950s silk factory on Lishui Road. He rented 6,680 square meters of the factory for offices at the princely sum of 0.5 yuan (7 US cents) per square meter. He invited his friends, including Chen, to join him and open offices there. These early tenants eventually founded the Me Too Cafe.
"In those days we felt we had finally found a home," says Chen. "We are all idealists to different degrees, and the likes of a 'Xintiandi' beside West Lake never appealed to us."
Initially the loft was meant to be a private area for like-minded creative types working together. But in 2007 Zhou decided to open the warehouses as a creative center, inviting more artists to work there, and inviting the public to view their work.
Similarly the Me Too Cafe started off as a private common room and canteen for the inhabitants of 166 Loft and their friends. Its popularity however quickly spread. Finding a never ending stream of visitors, the founders decided to open it as a commercial enterprise.
The atmosphere inside the cafe has stayed refreshingly free of over-commercialization. When we visited on a lazy Sunday afternoon, there was a comfortable scattering of visitors, but not too many. Kitsch items of nostalgia line one wall, and an old sewing machine sits next to toys you might remember from childhood. There are also drawers of music CDs. According to Chen visitors are encouraged to bring their own music to leave it at the cafe, and explore other collections.
Other shelves contain board games, like Monopoly. One boy and his mother could be seen happily whiling away the afternoon playing with wooden blocks.
At night the cafe itself transforms into an indie rock club. A corner facing a giant industrial fan is transformed into a stage regularly throughout the month.
"Grassroots rock bands suit Me Too Cafe's culture. There's character, but it's not boastful, and there's an element of nostalgic warmth," says Chen.
On busy nights these events can attract up to 100 people, mostly local students and young white-collar workers.
The Me Too Cafe is continuing to expand. A Chinese restaurant is being constructed. The design is typically quirky - two rooms have been joined with a rough moongate knocked between the walls. One long table goes through the moongate, a tongue-in-cheek imitation of a formal banquet table.
The rest of the 166 Loft is also being completed curiously - but not quite getting there even two years after it opened. When we visited it was open and we could walk around, but many of the companies have not moved in yet, and signs of construction can be seen here and there.
This lack of sophistication is perhaps a good thing - the place sticks to its idealistic beginnings.
Apart from the cafe and center's contents, another attraction that should not be missed is the elaborate graffiti that covers one of the center's outside walls. Stretching for a few hundred meters, its scale, execution and slightly nightmarish visions are impressive. But one gets the impression it is unplanned - as if it's a spontaneous, compulsive bubbling-over of creativity.
Me Too Cafe
Address: 166 Lishui Rd
Tel: (0571) 8801-9967
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