Shanghai by Design

Shanghai boasts a contemporary art and design scene that attracts die-hard aesthetes from around the world. We lift the lid on designer Shanghai via its architecture, design stores, and en-vogue restaurants.

Start your day with a light credit card workout at the retail outlets setting the style tone in Shanghai’s smartest homes. An ode to the avant-garde early C.20th art movement, bold homewares label Maison Dada sells its own collection of luxurious, eye-poppingly colourful furniture, lighting and accessories. Or, for a more global lineup, Design Republic carries the firm’s own creations (think mirrors, free-standing lights, and ceramics), as well as European exclusives from the likes of E15, Moooi, Matteograssi, and Tom Dixon.

Hungry shoppers can do no better than The Commune Social for a stylish, leisurely lunch in an easy-on-the-eye setting. Jason Atherton's convivial restaurant, helmed by Spanish chef Sergio Moreno, poses a triple hip threat with its tapas counter, dessert bar and cocktail-slinger, all housed in the same space as Design Republic – a red-brick former police station reimagined by local starchitects Neri & Hu.

Choices. For an afternoon filled with cultural klatsch and architectural awe, make the schlep south to the staggering West Bund Cultural Corridor, a vast riverside area that’s a perfect escape from the Shanghai hustle. Among the stellar line up of art spaces is Qiao Zhibing’s TANK, ex-aeroplane hangar Yuz Museum, the Long Museum West Bund, the innovative Shanghai Centre of Photography, and contemporary trailblazer ShanghAR.

Or, for something equally dreamy, but far closer to your suite at The Peninsula, sidle up to the Deco-esque, coppery-bronze, bamboo-shrouded Fosun Foundation Art Center, designed by Brit powerhouse Norman Foster and Thomas Heatherwick. Inside this triple-layered edifice is an expansive contemporary art exhibition hall, plus a world-class music performance space.

Maison Dada / The 621 Villa / 621 Changde Lu / +86 21 6267 0060 / 10am-7pm Mon-Fri / maisondada.com

Design Republic / 511 Jiangning Lu / +86 21 6176 7088 / 10am-7pm daily / thedesignrepublic.com

The Commune Social / 511 Jiangning Lu / +86 21 6047 7638 /11:30am - 10pm 

Fosun Foundation Art Center / 600 Zhongshan Dong Er Lu / +86 21 6305 5119 /10am-8pm Thurs & Sun,10am- 6pm Tue-Wed, Fri & Sun / fosunfoundation.com