In ancient times, people often sat on the ground in a circle, either by waters that merged with the sky, beside a spring with rocks to rest upon, or amidst layers of green hills with scattered thatched cottages. Brewing tea was a common scene, showing that the Chinese have a deep love for tea. They consider tea as a friend and use it as a means to meet friends. Tea culture is deeply ingrained in every Chinese person's daily life.
The Shangxia brand, founded in 2010, has always been rooted in high-end Chinese fashion and lifestyle. It blends the East and the West, the classic and the contemporary, interpreting the diverse cultural characteristics of China. Deeply rooted in Chinese heritage, it uses an international design language to express the romantic aesthetics of China. In recent years, it has focused on Chinese tea culture as the entry point to its brand lifestyle, combining traditional tea culture with the fashionable aesthetics of contemporary Eastern style, aiming to convey a tea culture lifestyle aesthetic that meets modern aesthetic standards.
The Shangxia tea space located on the ground floor of Oneitc in Shanghai aims to reinterpret traditional Chinese tea spaces in a contemporary way. It allows all visitors to experience the charm of traditional tea culture while feeling the space's visual expression that meets modern aesthetic standards.
The overall design is inspired by the terrain of tea mountains and the architectural form of traditional tea pavilions. It uses handcrafted bamboo-joint patterned crackle-glazed tiles that are both contemporary and traditional, aiming to convey the Chinese preference for bamboo, embodied in the saying, "One can live without meat, but not without bamboo." The overall color scheme is inspired by the natural color of tea leaves and the elegant sky-blue color of Chinese Ru ware, combined with a design technique of gradual layering, to express the layered terracing of tea mountains, linking the earth to the sky. The mirror effect of display shelves creates a natural beauty scene like terraced fields after rain, shimmering with waves. Meanwhile, the design of the façade and the top of the central island uses the architectural language of flying eaves, resembling a beautiful tea house standing quietly in the vast tea fields. "Green shadows of tea mountains surround the tea house, with a deep green essence hiding in the clouds and mist." In this green nature, we gently tell stories about tea.
