Designer Roman Wittmer finds inspiration from his choice Shanghai building
Roman Wittmer has been a Shanghai resident since 2004. He is currently working to initiate projects and to bring people together in his capacity as principal of Format, a German architectural firm based in Shanghai since 2006. The firm combines architecture with research and has undertaken a diverse range of projects from designing apartment interiors to leading larger architectural projects and city planning. "We are intending to redefine the whole notion of city planning," says Wittmer. "We came up with a concept to initiate a global recreation landscape of 5km in an industrial area in Guangdong. Currently we are planning a mixed-use sustainable building, consisting of hotel, apartments, public functions and offices."

With such projects in mind, it's hardly surprising that Wittmer cites the Peace Hotel, formerly the Cathay Hotel, as Shanghai's most iconic building. In fact, he goes so far as to say that it's Shanghai's only iconic building. For Wittmer, the Peace Hotel, closed since April 2007 for renovation, belongs to the same league of buildings as the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. "It was endowed with a rich variety of functions that is lost in most architecture nowadays," he says. "It was a completely self-sufficient building in that it didn't rely on the rest of the city; you could have spent weeks in there and found all necessary activities combined in one building."

The building was designed by Palmer and Turner, an architectural company that was prolific in Shanghai and was responsible for many of the buildings on the Bund, in 1929. Commissioned by Sir Victor Sassoon as a hotel, office complex and his city "pied--¤-terre," it also featured two shopping arcades with boutiques stocking elegant and fashionable goods. Built of granite with a copper-sheathed roof, it had a highly crafted glass and wood interior, using Lalique glass throughout the building, right down to the shaving mirrors in the rooms. Although officially built in Chicago School Gothic style, it was Shanghai's first truly modern building with strong art deco influences.

Wittmer discovered the hotel when he first came to Shanghai. "It was d-¦j-¤-vu," he says. "It resembles some of the best architecture in New York, not in terms of style, but more on an experiential level when you walk through it. The rather confined size of the plot but the many restaurants, bars, salons and the ballrooms that they managed to fit in results in a very intimate, almost living room, feel." When he first visited the hotel he says the building was in a state of "slow decay," which, he states, was part of its beauty as so much of Shanghai's architecture now is made to look old, and is not a result of ageing gracefully. Other important features for Wittmer were "the numerous function rooms, the many terraces, the complex connectivity of elevators and hidden stairs and the overall density of the design."

For him, the style ranks second behind the achievement of this building in fitting in an arrangement of intimate and public spaces in close proximity. "In the upper floors the salons and venue rooms have many side rooms and small terraces," Wittmer notes. "It is as if the designer was aware of the guest's needs for publicity and privacy at the same time. These places [also] give you the greatest views along the Bund."

Finally, Wittmer is inspired by the Peace Hotel to design well-tailored buildings himself, "similar to making a pair of custom-made shoes," he says.

Who: Roman Wittmer
Principal, Format
Wittmer has completed diverse projects spanning interior design, large architectural projects and city planning.