streamlined silhouettes, the Milan-based architect
has conceived a handsome modern space that artfully
incorporates Shanghainese design elements.
The bedrooms, for example – starting at a sizeable
50 sq m and expanding to a positively palatial 660
sq m for the penthouse – showcase handmade ceramic
tiles, silk panels and low-slung furniture that seem
to float off the dark-stained floors. In less assured
hands, the result might have easily descended into
cliché, but Lissoni ably unifies the disparate pieces
into a masculine whole that quietly telegraphs
its location without ever detracting from Shanghai’s
Blade Runner-like landscape made cinematic in
floor-to-ceiling windows.CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT,
THE OVAL STAIRCASE IN THE
APARTMENT BUILDING; A
TABLE AT FRASCA, THE HOTEL’S
MODERN ITALIAN EATERY,
WITH RON ARAD’S ‘DEAR INGO’
CHANDELIER HOVERING; A
MEMBERS’ LOUNGE AT CHINESE
RESTAURANT SUI TANG SHANG;
AND ONE OF THE SERVICED
APPARTMENTS, WITH A SCREEN
DIVIDING THE LIVING AREA
AND BEDROOM
Just as gratifying is the Lab Mixun spa, a sprawling
space that includes a yoga studio, gym, a Hypoxi
body-shaping room and a heated indoor pool. After
a few leisurely laps, guests can head to the adjoining
bar for some cold-pressed juices.
New York-based chef Gray Kunz, meanwhile,
continues his long association with the House brand,
lending his name to the hotel’s anchor attraction,
Café Gray Deluxe, while two other equally soigné
restaurants – all three also designed by Lissoni – offer
Cantonese and Italian fare, the latter served up,
in good weather, in the adjoining garden terrace. ∂
366 Shi Men Yi Road, Jing’an District, tel: 86.21 3216 8199,
themiddlehouse.com. Rates: from $450∑ 161