Kartel is a three-story lounge bar located in the former Shanghai French Concession. The neighborhood is a pleasant mix of residential and retail areas, Chinese and European style architecture, international restaurants and tiny stalls, wide tree lined streets and traditional lanes… a perfect combination of what constitutes the city today.
With a concept of “Destroy Chic”, the designer Thomas Dariel wanted with Kartel to play with these contrasts, to be elegant yet provoking in this very heritage district.
As the demolition of the previous space was going on, the “Destroy” part of the concept naturally grew on. While the walls were falling, the original structure of the building reveals itself, featuring shapes, textures, memories that ought to be kept. As the “Beaux-Arts” style in Europe pays homage to the buildings by ripping off everything that is hiding their original architecture, the creators decided here to keep several places as original. Exposed concrete walls, undressed stripped down pillars, and old letterings made by the people who built the place are part of these heritage elements.
Answering and balancing this raw side, Kartel offers an elegant and sophisticated décor served by comfy and stylish custom-made furniture, a warm atmosphere combining and mix-matching European and Asian influences. The lounge spans on three floors, two indoor plus a rooftop terrace. Three spaces proposing three distinct styles and atmospheres.
With moldings and fireplace, the 4th Floor reminds the cozy and plush atmosphere of the traditional Parisian salons, the kind of place one would have impassioned and intimate discussions while enjoying a nice glass of Burgundy.
Upstairs, the main lounge, including wrap-around floor-to-ceiling windows with stunning sight at Shanghai’s skyscrapers, mixes influences and turns upside down the traditional codes and clichés of the traditional wine bar.
Rather than oak barrels, one will find there bathtubs modified into sofas juxtaposed with very chic chrome-plated armchairs and art deco inspired tables. Spreading along the wall, a large wine cellar illuminates the whole space, a masterpiece placed on a stage as to recall that the wine, there, is the still the main subject.
The rooftop terrace with sofas and high-top tables settings is set apart by the destructive full 360-degree views over the surrounding French Concession, a nice draw for those seeking a more casual atmosphere.
