A Fable and Manifesto on the Endless Vitality of Shanghai
“He stood on the bones of the world reminiscing, unaware that another world was being born.” – Yu Ting
The West Bund Xuanxin, with its interior design led by Wutopia Lab, was officially completed in October 2023.
Invitation
When I first received the Xuanxin project, I did not know who the architect was. The developer hoped the architects and interior designers would create complementary works that would inspire each other, resulting in a remarkable collaborative piece. It was an adventurous challenge, which I gladly accepted.
Whirlpool
The initial document I received was the first-floor plan approved by the transportation management department, featuring a diamond-shaped corridor encircling a diamond-shaped exhibition hall. I was instructed that the design should embody the spirit of Shanghai. At that time, I had just finished reading Journey to the Deep Time, which included a chapter describing vortices, connecting me to Shanghai’s essence. Shanghai is perpetually caught in the vortex of public opinion yet consistently creates astonishing outcomes. I felt the vortex was the perfect theme.
△ Conceptual animation © Wutopia Lab
I rotated the diamond floor plan and decided to design the exhibition hall’s exterior wall as a vortex, becoming a secondary facade layered behind the glass facade.
△ First floor plan © Wutopia Lab
△ 1F Ring Gallery © CreatAR Images
The entire interior design concept was built around the vortex theme. The 10-meter-high wall forms an uplifting vortex structure, enclosing a simple yet multifunctional marble exhibition hall used for displays, performances, and press events. The vortex pattern is echoed in the circular corridor’s flooring and creates a richly layered ceiling.
△ Dynamic image of stone formation © Wutopia Lab
Southeast axis side view © Wutopia Lab
The layered patterns effectively conceal the structural and mechanical systems between the outer facade and the exhibition hall walls. This separation allows the vortex to visually stand apart from the facade, becoming the dominant visual element and intensifying its symbolic meaning.
△ Circular corridor section © Wutopia Lab
△ 1F Giant waves and streamers © CreatAR Images
△ 1F Ring Gallery © CreatAR Images
△ 1F Center Exhibition Hall © CreatAR Images
△ 1F Center Exhibition Hall © CreatAR Images
The West Bund Xuanxin basement serves functional purposes with a public corridor, restrooms, a multi-person dressing room, and a VIP dressing room. This area represents the underwater world beneath the vortex. The architect incorporated an underwater light experience in the corridor and used three types of electroplated stone along with coral red stone to evoke the coral reef theme in the bathrooms and dressing rooms, symbolizing the underground coral reef.
△ Underground Floor Plan © Wutopia Lab
△ B1 Corridor © CreatAR Images
△ B1 Public Restroom © CreatAR Images
△ B1 VIP Makeup Room © CreatAR Images
Our love for the coral theme led us to use green jadeite marble for the VVIP dressing room on the first floor. Photographed from the mezzanine, the room’s occupant appears as though immersed in a vivid and mythical reality.
△ 1F VVIP Makeup Room © CreatAR Images
The second floor houses the project exhibition hall, a serene space likened to a rippling water surface and reef bank where the vortex dissipates. Auxiliary functions such as the lobby, screening room, reception, restrooms, VIP lounge, and meeting rooms are concealed behind the reef bank, designed as abstract caves that accommodate diverse needs.
△ Second floor plan © Wutopia Lab
△ 2F VIP Reception Room © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Conference Room © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Small Meeting Room (Tea) © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Public Restroom © CreatAR Images
△ 2F VIP Elevator Hall © CreatAR Images
Visitors enter the second floor through the prologue hall called the White Cliff. From there, they can follow a long scroll narrating Xu Guangqi’s illustrious life or enter directly into the shimmering main water-themed exhibition space.
△ 2F Prologue Hall © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Brand Channel A © CreatAR Images
The expansive water surface serves as the hall for model displays. The roof was designed as a gently curved dome with a variable cross-section structure. Utilizing the maximum clear height and natural skylight illumination, it creates a sky-like atmosphere. Below, a Huangpu River motif flows across an island-like model platform, winding towards the entrance with a faint outline of the Tushanwan archway.
△ 2F Center Exhibition Hall © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Center Exhibition Hall © CreatAR Images
Behind the exhibition hall lies a large conference room enveloped in lush greenery, resembling a forest. It faces the real Huangpu River flowing gently eastward, where reality and imagination beautifully converge.
△ 2F Source © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Conference Room © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Conference Room © CreatAR Images
Driven by symmetry and symbolic obsession, coupled with the refined winding reef bank, the hall forms a shape reminiscent of a crabapple. One of the gaps in the Ruyi motif serves as the bathroom’s front hall. The architect placed a marble basin in the center of this open space facing the hall, with water waves rolling inside, forming a shrinking vortex. Architecture creates metaphorical delight in every detail.
△ 2F Center Exhibition Hall © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Public Restroom © CreatAR Images
△ 2F Public Restroom © CreatAR Images
Billow
As the interior concept was approved, the owner also unveiled the building’s facade design, envisioned as two interwoven, swirling ribbons. The architect positioned the vortex as a secondary facade behind the ribbon facade. The developer was delighted, likening it to a giant wave.
△ View from outside looking in © CreatAR Images
This massive wave vortex was carved in marble using five-axis machining and assembled on site. It creates a Baroque visual effect, with marble expressing dynamic fluidity in solid form.
△ 1F Ring Gallery © CreatAR Images
△ 1F Giant Wave Wall © CreatAR Images
△ 1F Giant Wave Wall © CreatAR Images
From outside, the building appears to be in constant rotation, creating a harmonious balance with the ribbon facade. Especially at night, it emerges as a striking new landmark in Shanghai’s most vibrant riverside district.
△ View from outside looking in © CreatAR Images
Orbit and Xuanxin
The Chinese name of the exhibition hall, “West Bank Whirlpool Heart,” is inspired by the poem: “The water is swirling, the Peng wind soars.” This powerful and dynamic text helps visitors understand that humans are like stars, circling the orbits outside the building. The architecture and interior design combine natural forms—waves, eddies, ribbons, stars, and tracks—giving rise to the concept of Orbit.
△ Facade © CreatAR Images
PS
It was only when the facade was revealed that I discovered the architect was Thomas.
Everyone holds their own hidden Shanghai, seemingly disconnected fragments embedded within the vast, shining city—sometimes silent, sometimes vanishing. Eventually, someone will piece together these hidden fragments and realize that this is the living Shanghai, defining the grand Shanghai we see.” – Yu Ting
Project Information
Project Name: West Bank Xuanxin
Interior Design: Wutopia Lab
Lead Architect: Yu Ting
Project Architect: Sun Liran
Design Team: Pan Dali, Kuang Zhou, Xiong Jiaxing, Wang Sizhe (Intern), Zhang Naiyue (Intern), Chen Yiwei (Intern), Gu Xiang (Intern), Zeng Rui (Intern), Gao Bolong (Intern)
Detailing Unit: Moguan (Shanghai) Architectural Decoration Design Consulting Firm
Detailing Team: Li Yiyuan, Zhang Ziqing, Zhang Kai, Shen Sixia, Gao Yufan
Owner: Shanghai Yibin Real Estate Co., Ltd
Architectural Design: Heatherwick Studio
Construction Drawing Unit: Shanghai Tianhua Architectural Design Co., Ltd
Photography: CreatAR Images
Location: Shanghai, China
Duration: October 2020 – November 2023
Area: 5,500 square meters
Materials: Marble, Organic Grinding Stone, GRG
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