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Communing with design at newly open Design Commune
December 9, 2012, Sunday
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SINCE 2006, Design Republic has been synonymous with good design in China, offering the best home products from modern design classics to the avant-garde from the world's best talents. A pity that its first concept retail store on the Bund closed three years ago, yet the Design Republic Design Commune, recently unveiled on 511 Jiangning Road, has continued its prominent place in the local design scene.
Going far beyond a typical retail store, it envisions a space of exchange for design and designers, both locally and internationally. Through exhibitions, lectures, and forums, Design Republic not only offers international design concepts to the Chinese consumer but also brings Chinese design to an international audience.
The space Design Republic now calls home dates back more than 100 years to the former British Concession area. Built in 1909, it was the Gordon Road Police Station, which served as municipal police headquarters until 1943. By the time it was declared "protected" in 2005, the building had fallen into disrepair.
When founders of Design Republic Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu encountered the once-regal, red-brick building on Jiangning Road several years ago, it had been abandoned for years yet they saw potential.
It was completely transformed by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office specializing in architectural design. Every wall, floor, ceiling, nook and cranny was considered with a purpose: to emphasize the union between old and new.
The multi-use "house" of design not only contains the newest Design Republic flagship store carrying more than 60 designer brands but also showrooms for other brands such as Vola and Baccarat. The minimalist walls, floors and ceiling serve as backdrops for designer furniture pieces.
Conceived of as a platform of exchange for everything design-related, other lifestyle functions will soon be added, according to Neri. They include a tapas bar, flower shop, bookstore, fashion retail, one-room hotel and multipurpose event and exhibition space.
For Design Republic's sixth anniversary, Neri and Hu have not only introduced to China high-quality lifestyle products but also lifted the bar in the local design world to nurture new interests in design.
Going far beyond a typical retail store, it envisions a space of exchange for design and designers, both locally and internationally. Through exhibitions, lectures, and forums, Design Republic not only offers international design concepts to the Chinese consumer but also brings Chinese design to an international audience.
The space Design Republic now calls home dates back more than 100 years to the former British Concession area. Built in 1909, it was the Gordon Road Police Station, which served as municipal police headquarters until 1943. By the time it was declared "protected" in 2005, the building had fallen into disrepair.
When founders of Design Republic Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu encountered the once-regal, red-brick building on Jiangning Road several years ago, it had been abandoned for years yet they saw potential.
It was completely transformed by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office specializing in architectural design. Every wall, floor, ceiling, nook and cranny was considered with a purpose: to emphasize the union between old and new.
The multi-use "house" of design not only contains the newest Design Republic flagship store carrying more than 60 designer brands but also showrooms for other brands such as Vola and Baccarat. The minimalist walls, floors and ceiling serve as backdrops for designer furniture pieces.
Conceived of as a platform of exchange for everything design-related, other lifestyle functions will soon be added, according to Neri. They include a tapas bar, flower shop, bookstore, fashion retail, one-room hotel and multipurpose event and exhibition space.
For Design Republic's sixth anniversary, Neri and Hu have not only introduced to China high-quality lifestyle products but also lifted the bar in the local design world to nurture new interests in design.
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