Client: Galaxy Entertainment Ltd.

Overview

CHINA ROUGE is a 1,600 square meter private club and bar at Galaxy Macau where it offers unequalled standards of service and refined luxury. The space is designed to recall Shanghai’s golden era in the 1930s, when it was the economic and cultural capital of Asia. Known as the “Paris of the East”, Shanghai was home to lavish dance halls, tango teahouses and underground cocktail bars. CHINA ROUGE rekindles the beauty and allure of those days and combines it with stylish amenities, contemporary arts and impressive performances, bringing a unique and luxurious new nightlife experience to guests.

Goals

The Art Deco style of 1930s Shanghai was taken as the main theme to recreate the vivid artistic style of that era by a contemporary design approach, making strong visual statements with beautiful details and colours. A series of commission artworks were integrated into the project in order to achieve the theme.
Divided into the tranquil bar and lounge area and the energetic showroom with VIP compartments, the space features an extensive collection of commissioned artworks by some up-and-coming Chinese artists, including Buhua, Chen Man, Deng Xinli, Ling Jian and Zheng Lu. It also houses many custom-made artifacts.
The artworks capture impressions of beauty and sensuality – much of which is rooted in Chinese literature including the Red Chamber, Plum in the Golden Vase, Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and is represented by traditional craftsmanship and materials like jade, bronze and lacquer. All these artworks, with femininity as the theme, are juxtaposed to create a strong contrast and conflict, bringing decadent visual impacts and sensual ambiance.

Process

Fully supported by the client, the designer had the freedom to curate a comprehensive art programme for the project in order to achieve the design goal. Rather than reproducing 1930s artworks, or reinterpreting them, the designer commissioned current leading Chinese artists to create custom contemporary pieces.
Acted as an intermediary between clients and artists, the designer monitored different artist’s progress and designs to ensure their works met the requirements of the club. This process was very long and complicated. All art and furnishings in CHINA ROUGE were custom-made; a lot of effort and time were put into follow up on every detail.
The selected artists have very different kinds of expertise. Commission artworks include painting with styled realism, abstract painting, photography, and digital photographic puzzle pieces. Imagery, however, has one constant throughout: the portrayal of women, or aspects thereof. And several make great impact.
In addition to the specially commissioned artists, the designer also conceptualized and created many of the artifacts that can be found throughout the venue.

Additional Information

Women in 1930s Shanghai were impressive to look at. In their honor, the CHINA ROUGE interior design contains many feminine elements that make the whole concept more attractive. To echo with the design theme, all commission artworks created by different artists are artfully demonstrating the beauty and power of femininity by all means.