Although the marketing of the building later suggested that its form had been inspired by the Calla lily, the shape actually owed more to the female human form - think Matisse's 'Blue Nude'. This results in the two intersecting elliptical fuses, true to MDL's philosophy, also hints at an underlying symbolism - perhaps symbol of infinity or number 8 which is propitious in Chinese culture. The highly sensual and curvilinear external form of the building complements the interiors, but also neutralise the building's scale disadvantage vis-a-vis its neighbours.

Mercurio Design Lab S.r.l. (MDL) is an award-winning Italian design studio that creates avant-garde concepts inspired by the vibrancy of Asia. Since its inception, MDL has been a place for creative ideas and thoughts, with a high energy to generate architecturally meaningful works. The team is composed of passionate architects, engineers, designers and artists who integrate art with technology in their design process, while respecting the three fundamental criteria: the functional, the aesthetic and the social. With the company’s Italian spirit and rich cultural heritage that originated in Rome for more than 50 years, MDL creates new milestones and commit with great passion to bring ideas and solutions into the fields of Architecture, Interior Design and Industrial Design.

Mercurio Design Lab Srl (MDL) is an Italian design studio dedicated to the creation and crafting of cutting edge and outstanding design work. Since its inception, MDL has been a place for ideas and thoughts, a place where creativity and artistic sense merge with a highly generative energy of the design process of architecturally meaningful works. We commit with great passion to bring milestone making ideas and solutions into the fields of Architecture, Interior Design and Industrial Design. With the company’s Italian spirit and rich cultural contents that originated in Rome forty years ago, MDL has much to offer on the contemporary design table, where Art and Technology meet to craft the best of the world lifestyle.