This Expansive Mall in China Invites Exploration

2023 Best of Year Winner for Shopping Mall

A fictional island of towering cliffs in the middle of the ocean was the conceit for the eight-story mall on the Dalian coast of China by Ippolito Fleitz Group–Identity Architects. Inside Dalian Huanan MixC One, organically shaped atrium voids and sinuous catwalks draw attention to the vast scale of the 270,000-square-foot space, which houses no less than 261 individual stores. Staggered and stacked throughout the skylit atrium are giant cantilevered half-lanterns, their upward-branching LED-lit slats resembling bird nests on high. The palette is coastal, with crisp white solid surfacing pairing with desaturated wood-film finishes that evoke the appearance of driftwood weathered by the sun.

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Jose Miso; Tim Lessmann; Silvia Wang; Chao Xie; Jason Yang; Maggie Jia; Gareth Hardy; Aaron Ye; Chen Dong; Olivia Weng; Lulu Wang; Dina Hool; Eva Perez; Erkin Sagir.