COSMETEA STORE, A TEA COSMETICS HOUSE FLOATING IN THE MOUTAINS, DESIGNED BY NAX ARCHITECTS

Tea embodies humanity and culture. Its inherent ancient wisdom as well as its pure and clean beauty have surpassed an awareness of East and West to gain universal acceptance. This beverage is healthy and suitable for social interactions. In the context of a new era, tea's dual advantages express it in more enriched and diverse ways, making it a suitable aspect of modern urban residents' lifestyles.

The tea cosmetics brand Cosmetea subverts the previous definition of cosmetics by innovatively integrating tea with trendy cosmetics. It uses Tea Beauty Science to create modern fashion aesthetics based on natural Eastern sentiments. 

Nax Architects ( https://www.nax.group ) was entrusted to conceive a store for the brand in Shanghai. Based on the dimensions of spatial design and brand planning, construction of art and an immersive scenario experience, as well as an exploration of differences between natural and artificial realms, the pop-up represents the philosophy of relationships between existing environments and future architecture. Moreover, it promotes the brand’s creative and sustainable evolution.

This project is located on Yuyuan Road, a hundred-year-old road that has undergone many changes and represents the essence of Shanghai’s history and culture. The site is surrounded by dense rows of old buildings. We drew on the brand’s conceptual prototype of ‘taste a beautea’ to develop new ideas, and chose the form of layered and irregular mountain ranges as well as a leisurely, quiet and welcoming atmosphere as design languages. Within an area of 75-square-meter, we created a cosmetics retailing, socializing and experiential space, which was conceptualized as a “tea house floating in the mountains”.

Taking inspiration from the “view framing” techniques in Chinese classical garden design, we set a modern minimalist stainless steel screen at the entrance. This adds a hazy rhythm while hinting at the “tea house” concept. It also forms a readily recognizable brand personality, which attracts pedestrians to stop and visit.

茶，是人类文化的一种载体。茶中蕴藏的悠久智慧，和醇厚净亮的美，已跨越东西方的认知而为世所共通。茶兼有健康属性和社交属性，新的时代背景之下，这双重属性亦被赋予更加丰富多元的表达，使之契合当代都市人群的生活方式。

茶妆品牌Cosmetea，颠覆美妆以往定义，将传统的Tea与潮流的Cosmetics创新融合，运用“Tea Beauty Science”，衍生自然主义的东方情愫为当代时尚美学。Nax Architects奈时设计为Cosmetea打造线下体验店，从空间设计和品牌策划的维度，构筑艺术化和沉浸式的场景体验，探索自然与人造之间，既有环境与未来建筑之间的关系哲学，也将品牌引向创意与可续的进化之道。

项目位于愚园路，一条历经百年沧桑的马路，凝刻着上海的历史与文脉精华。基地夹杂在愚园路鳞次栉比的老式建筑群中，我们围绕“Taste a beautea”的概念原型展开创作发想，取层叠错落的山峦之型与闲适恬淡的待客之境为设计语汇，用75平方米创造新语境下的美妆零售及社交与体验空间——漂浮山间的茶室。

借鉴东方园林的框景手法，在入口处引入现代极简的不锈钢屏风，平添朦胧韵律的同时，暗示传统茶室的蜕变，也构成极具辨识度的品牌性格，吸引着行人驻足光临。