Murmurmoon — Baicai Design

Murmurmoon

murmurmoon is a fashion boutique shop based in Shanghai, focusing on young and distinctive brands. Its aesthetic is gentle yet assured — contemporary in rhythm, with a quiet sense of freedom beyond definition.

Project Info:

Status: built, 2025
Area: 450 sqm
Client: Murmurmoon
Location: Shanghai
Photography: Topia Vision

The project is located in Qiantan Li, a newly developed area in Shanghai. The store occupies the ground floor with three street-facing façades and excellent visibility. By retaining the existing floor and ceiling, we aimed to create a space that reflects the brand’s tone through furnishings and display installations.

In defining the project, we captured the brand’s core attitude — youthful, vibrant, and warmly confident. We took the idea of a tropical, luxurious breeze as the central design motif, allowing the space to flow, wrap, and shimmer like air touched by light.

Blue and pale pink were chosen as the main tones. We envisioned a scene where a flamingo glides across a lake. Its reflection swaying on the water, balancing romance and vastness, with every horizon blooming beneath a free sky. For the façade, we used feather graphic elements cascading gently from top to bottom. They veil the unused second floor while refining the building’s proportions. Through the gaps between the feathers, the first-floor display and atmosphere subtly reveal themselves to the street.

In plan, the space is divided by a large structure core into two sections, posing a significant design challenge. We introduced curves to guide the view and connect the two areas through flowing lines. The curves act as a spatial link, and a gentle reminder that space does not end where it seems, nor does perception.

Inside, the display system is composed of varied curved surfaces, where garments and objects unfold like waves in motion. The romantic character of the brand continues through the details, creating dialogue, resonance, and quiet harmony within the space.

The project finds its balance between lightness and weight. Between commercial logic and emotional expression, we sought the brand’s most natural voice — creating a space not only to be seen, but to be felt.

About

Baicai Design is a multidisciplinary design practice based in New York and Shenyang, working across architecture, interiors, exhibitions, and spatial design. Its practice spans different geographies, scales, and cultural contexts.

Founded by Kaiwen Zhao, Baicai is shaped by his interdisciplinary background in design and architecture. Zhao studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Architecture at the Yale School of Architecture. He currently teaches in the Department of Industrial Design at RISD, and has previously taught at the University of Colorado Denver, lectured at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and served as a guest critic at Syracuse University.

Baicai approaches space beyond the conventional boundaries of interior design, bringing together architectural and product design thinking to address spatial questions. Through different scales of intervention, we explore the relationships between space, objects, and human behavior.

New York:
540 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY, 11201

Shenyang:
A07International Software Park, Shenyang, China

baicaidesignoffice@gmail.com

Awards

FRAME Wellness Space of the year Shortlisted
2026

Paris Design Awards Winner
2026

MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner
2026

Dezeen China Rising Firm of the Year
2025

POSITION Award China Best 100 Young Architect
2024

Guangzhou Design Week 40 Under 40
2024

AD China 100 YOUNG
2022-2024

Architizer Best Young Interior Design Firm Special Mention
2024

Forbes China 30 Under 30
2023

FRAME Small Residential of the year Shortlisted
2023

FRAME Award Best Emerging Designer Nominee
2023

APIDA Design Award Excellence Award
2023

FRAME Pop-up Store of the Year
2022

FRAME Window Display of the Year Shortlisted
2022

WYDF TOP 100 Designer
2022

Dezeen Award Shortlisted
2022

Architecture Masterprize Best of The Bests
2022

AD China 100 YOUNG
2020-2022

Architecture Masterprize Honorable Mention
2022

KUKAN Design Award Shortlisted
2022

DNA Award Winner in Workplace Design
2022

DNA Award Honorable Mention in Workplace Design
2022

DNA Award Honorable Mention in Showroom Design
2022

K-Design Award Winner
2022

Novum Design Award Gold Award
2022

Novum Design Award Silver Award
2022

IDA Design Award Honorable Mention
2022

FRAME Best of the Month
2022 April

Design for Asia Award Bronx Award
2021

Design for Asia Award Excellence Award
2021

IDEA Design Award Finalist
2021

Golden Pin Design Award Winner
2021

Golden Pin Design Award Honorable Mention
2022

Press

Baicai Design’s work has received international media coverage across architecture, design, fashion, and culture. The studio has been featured in publications including Gestalten, INTERIORS, AD China, FRAME, Interior Design China, My Home, and id+c, alongside leading global platforms such as Dezeen, Leibal, Architizer, Divisare, Vogue, ELLE China, Yatzer, Cosmopolitan, gooood, Archilovers, Designverse, and Archello.