Haocailou

Design challenge：
Shunde cuisine is the origin of Cantonese cuisine, however, through market research we found that customers are always confused it with Cantonese cuisine. Meanwhile, most Cantonese dishes and restaurant designs are quite traditional, and there is no obvious difference between brands. Then more innovative, more refined Shunde cuisine are required to fill this gap.

The project is located in Fengshengli, Shanghai, which is a fashion destination for young hipsters from day to night. The location of Fengshengli and the consumer group determine that this is a very innovative restaurant for fashionable people.

How to make the project highlight the cultural characteristics of Shunde, distinguish it from the daily Cantonese culture and attract young people, is the difficulty of our design.

The design concept:

Through desktop research and local visits, we have a deep understanding of Shunde culture. Since ancient times, local people in Shunde have made a living from fishing due to abundant rain and extensive water network. The weather is unpredictable and there are many uncertainties in life. People are in awe of all unknowns, so they want a good omen (Haocai) for everything. "Haocai" is also has a sense of festival atmosphere. The traditional Daliang fish lanterns are an important part of Shunde’s intangible cultural heritage. Therefore, the project intends to use a large number of lanterns to introduce the lively atmosphere into the room.

Phoenix is the king of birds, often used to imply auspiciousness. As the saying goes, "Eat in Guangzhou, cook out of Phoenix city". while Phoenix is another name for Shunde. Therefore, we take the phoenix as the theme, echo the happy and beautiful meaning of Haocai lou, combine shunde intangible cultural heritage to create a different shunde regional customs.

"Cai" also refers to rich and beautiful colors or colorful fabrics. The long and rich culture of Shunde is displayed through the different colors of lake blue, crimson, ochre, dark green as well as colored glaze, gauze, mirror, glazed bricks and other multi-layer materials and crafts.