Setsugekka by Shanghai Hip-Pop Architectural Decoration Design Co.: 2017 Best of Year Winner for Asian Dining

A haiku must be only 17 syllables. That limitation does not, however, diminish the power of this Japanese poetry form. Likewise, chief designer Sun Tianwen restricted himself to a few key elements, namely glass and light, for a Japanese restaurant. “Stripping away decoration brings you closer to the divine,” Sun says. He also drew on Japan’s age-old concept of snow, moon, flowers, metaphorically winter, fall, spring.

The glass is the super-clear low-iron variety. It’s used for floor-to-ceiling partitions that break up the 14,000 square feet, on four levels, into multiple dining zones, many of them private, and a large area for drinking tea at an elongated table. At the entrance, the glass is etched with a life-size rendition of a Japanese cherry tree. Thousands of cherry blossoms are scattered across other partitions. Up close, the individual petals are visible. From afar, they seem to morph into a snowy winter scene in the blue light of color-changing LEDs—installed in coves lining the walls and diffused with specially treated glass that allows for a consistent, soft radiance. “Washes of blue, yellow, and pink light represent the different seasons,” he says. Pure poetry.

Project Architect: Cao Xindi.

> See more from the December 2017 issue of Interior Design

> See all 2017 Best of Year winners and honorees