Shanghai is too rich in Art Deco to to have an obvious #1 Art Deco building. But if not the Peace Hotel, then what?
Some background: In the 1930s, Victor Sassoon was Shanghai’s most successful businessman. Sassoon had a fondness for architects Palmer & Turner (still very much in business, BTW) and P&T were experts in the Art Deco style.
Sassoon House opened in 1932 as a multi-use building. Shops at the bottom, offices and a hotel in the middle, and the icing on the cake, Sassoon’s penthouse. In 1956, the building became the Peace Hotel with the majority of its space devoted to guest rooms. These days it’s restored. and managed by Fairmont Hotels.
During the renovation, the main entrance was converted to a lounge and now one enters through the side entrances–which are still pretty spectacular.
The ceiling, seen from the top of the stairs shown in the previous photo.
The original lobby, now repurposed as a lounge. To see how this looked prior to the restoration, click here.
Originally, the building was known as Sassoon House and contained shops, offices, guest rooms and Victor Sassoon’s penthouse. The hotel portion was the Cathay Hotel. That reflection is a stained glass ceiling fixture–see next photo.
One of three large stained glass ceiling panels. There are dozens more stained glass works throughout the hotel.
This is difficult to show in a single image, but the entrance halls lead to the rotunda, with its spectacular ceiling.
The rotunda ceiling
I almost forgot–the hotel has a museum. Perhaps these items came from the lost and found?
A lamp that originally hung outside the hotel, with the ubiquitous spiral motif.
Dinner awaits – let’s head up to the ballroom!
For our final evening at Shanghai Art Deco Congress, we went out in in style, with a dinner of period dishes.
Our hosts, Tina and Patrick, wrapping up the event in the Peace Hotel ballroom.
A look at the ballroom’s ceiling. The chandeliers are not original.
I visited the hotel before and hoped this time I’d finally see the outdoor roof patio, which I did. But I was so captivated by the rest of the the hotel that by the time I got to the roof it was dark. Since the number of photos will probably make this post load slowly, I’ll add another with my trip to to the roof.