Located in Fosun Foundation’s Bund Finance Centre, the exhibition celebrates the opening of the Cindy Chao Maison, the latest showroom by Cindy Chao The Art Jewel (CCTAJ) in Shanghai. Tom Postma Design (TPD) was commissioned to design the event, transforming the existing building into the temporary house of Cindy Chao.
Innovation
The design is heavily inspired by CCTAJ’s process, reaching for the same level of innovation and attention to detail as her finished pieces. Split across the floors of the building, the exhibition design is adjusting to facilitate the desired experiences. On the second floor, the floating pavilion is a special installation that reflects light and is permeated by it at the same time. Visitors reach the forest-like display of jewels by crossing a bridge over an infinite lake surrounded by slowly changing fairy lights. The lights, movement of water, the sounds of the water and nature are composed to offer the visitor a harmonious and immersive experience.
Functionality
Each aspect has been carefully thought out in relation to how individual visitors will experience the architecture, including the journey in and out. This starts with the entry, where dreamy simulations of CCTAJ’s watercolour paintings and sketches are projected, accompanied by a dynamic soundscape. The experience was designed to slowly envelope the senses as visitors move out of the city and into the building. The same human-centric focus continues into the two other exhibition floors, both of which include multi-media installations that use light, soundscapes, video, physical and digital elements to create specific, atmospheric conditions.
Creativity
The design starts with the same inspiration points that underline CCTAJ’s body of work: a combination of architectural, sculptural and natural forms. The aim was to create a new immersive design experience in which visitors could become ‘entranced’ in both the illusion of natural beauty and the level of technical detail behind the Cindy Chao The Art Jewels. To do this, we decided to create two distinct experiences: the journey towards the jewellery and an intimate, direct experience with the pieces. Another experience, the retrospective exhibition, is heavily inspired by CCTAJ’s own process. Here visitors could further explore the immense creativity that goes on behind the scenes of creating a Cindy Chao The Art Jewel.
Sustainability
On a sustainability level we prioritised reducing the project’s environmental impact through the use of rental and reusable elements as much as possible. All showcases were reused, and all main substructures were rented from local companies. The integration of existing lighting systems was supplemented with temporary rental fibre optic and LED lighting that reduce the overall energy consumption of the installation. All new design elements that were fabricated for the event have the potential to be reused for future events, or have been printed on recyclable fabrics.
Infinity: the Endless Realm of Cindy Chao
Tom Postma Design
Bronze

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Talar Bardakjian
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Darren Xu
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6.38
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6.74
6.74
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Horace Pan
Founder
at Panorama Design Group
5
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at Brandt Collective
7.02
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Filip Janssen
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at Zware Jongens
6
5.9
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Arne Schultchen
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6.25
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6.19

Bart Veen
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at Bart.Agency
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7
6.8
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Salone
Founder
at Salone del Salon
6.52
5.67
6.1
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Designer
Client
Cindy Chao
Floor area
1330 ㎡
Completion
2021
Finishes
Lighting