New | China's shopping malls undergo creative shift
Retailers are creating social spaces that attract shoppers who want public areas where they can hang out with friends and family
A powerful mixture of increasingly sophisticated retail consumers and online shopping in China is forcing traditional retailers to reconsider the classic indoor commercial model in inventive new ways.
Leading the transformation is a focus on extending the classic shopping mall from a place to make specific purchases into a social space where one can spend time with friends and family. In design terms, this calls for as much attention to what public areas offer as the interior of boutiques.
The newest developments have Shanghai's upscale Xintiandi shopping district to thank for demonstrating the merits of creating a retail experience. Over a decade ago, the developer, Shui On Group, integrated antique walls, tiles and facades of 1920s and 1930s shikumen (stone warehouse gate) housing with shopping, dining and entertainment to create a new heritage district.
Despite early criticism for its theme-park retail design around a series of traditional public courtyards and grey flagstone lanes, it proved popular. Today a Shanghai landmark, it includes a new indoor element dedicated to contemporary design.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Adrian Cheng Chi-kong successfully differentiated his K11 Art Mall, which opened in Shanghai in mid-2013, as a creative space showcasing local artists' work alongside blockbuster shows like last year's exhibition of Claude Monet's Impressionist works.
The Kokaistudios-designed art mall still includes the essence of a shopping centre but its "art, people and nature" design philosophy means considerable investment in non-retail elements such as an urban farm and landscaping.