Excerpt: The Nice Rice Chengdu Concept Store by Say Architects reimagines the retail space as an architectural expression of Chengdu’s “opera watching and tea drinking” lifestyle. A wooden opera stage installation, paired with shifting light films, mimics the dappled shade of a tree canopy. This flowing spine unifies irregular spaces, blending natural rhythm, shelter, and calm into an immersive shopping experience rooted in local leisure culture.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Chengdu’s urban fabric is woven together by activities such as listening to opera, drinking tea, visiting gardens, and enjoying scenic views. “To rest under a large tree canopy” is a saying that reflects the relaxed essence of daily life in Sichuan and Chongqing. The leisure lifestyle under trees conveys a sense of content and comfort. The store has relocated from its original location on the first floor to a second-floor space. Since the increase in size, Say expands the concept of the “opera watching and tea drinking” tranquil lifestyle into the new space by mimicking the dappled lighting effects using light films.
The original site has lots of edges, and the complex edges cut the site into multiple spaces. The insertion of the opera stage has brought high efficiency and convenience to the circulation. The wooden opera stage was assembled with wooden tapered columns and hanging rods. The opera stage installation spans across the entire space, eliminating the irregularity of the edges. The assembled structure is quite simple with tapered columns connecting hanging rods, forming a unified object. Overhead spotlights cast light onto the ceiling of the opera stage, bringing the dappled lighting effect creating a visual impression of being shaded by a tree canopy. The interplay of ever-changing light spots and the wooden structure infused the static space with natural rhythm.
Entering from the mall, walking through the opera stage, choosing clothes, the light film at the stage ceiling shifting patterns of light, mimicking the natural light and shadows as if beneath a canopy, casting patches of light spots flowing in the space. A sense of shelter and natural coolness extends along the path. Visiting inward, the space gradually leads to a broad central atrium. Visitors passing through an array of shades, the light brightens. The glazed facade invites natural light into the indoor, views expand along. On the stage, flows a sense of nature, off the stage, lives a calm and spontaneous life.
The brand continues using white as a base tone while the wood framework acts like a flowing spine, drawing together and connecting the entire space. Light spots flicker and shift across the film, softening the sense of artificiality of the installation. Say hopes the tranquil rhythms of “To rest under a large tree canopy’’ blend with the brand’s language, through the weaving circulation and moving light film, bringing an infusing, vivid light and shadow opera.
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