THE MIRROR

THE MIRROR
Rockbund Square, Shanghai

Created for BEAST at Rockbund Square in Shanghai, The Mirror began with a simple question: in a city where flowers and gardens are already deeply woven into everyday life, how might we rediscover a sense of surprise and wonder?

Commissioned for the launch of BEAST’s fragrance collection, the installation took its cue from scent itself — light, diffuse and without a fixed direction. Rather than designing a garden around a singular focal point, we imagined a landscape encountered gradually through wandering: flowers, grasses, fruits and small discoveries coming together to evoke summer. 

The garden was elevated gently above the plaza on pot stands, giving the landscape the appearance of floating above the ground. Behind it, a curved reflective wall gathered the surrounding architecture into the work, including David Chipperfield’s restoration of the historic Rockbund district. Garden, city and reflection became difficult to separate, extending the landscape beyond its physical boundaries. 

Among the flowers and summer grasses were melons — a reference to the familiar pleasure of eating them during summer in China. Hidden throughout the garden, they became unexpected encounters within the abundance, drawing on the ability of plants and fruits to carry memories of a particular season. 

At the centre, the atmosphere quietened. Water lily pads floated within the plaza fountain amongst rose hips and curly willow, forming a contemplative watery world. 

Conceived in Singapore and realised in Shanghai with BEAST’s in-house floral designers, the entire installation was created using botanical material sourced locally. The result was a garden particular to a Shanghai summer: familiar in its ingredients, but made strange again through the way they were encountered.