CapitaMall Skyview is a new shopping centre in Chongqing, China designed by CLOU architects and offering a layered interior that mirrors the city’s distinctive urban landscape.
June 30th, 2025
CapitaMall Skyview is a 100,000-square-metre community shopping centre located in Chongqing’s Ranjiaba district, within the city’s inner ring road. Designed by CLOU architects, the project was conceived as both a retail hub and a local gathering place, offering a mix of shopping, food and edutainment experiences aimed at meeting the evolving needs of nearby residents.
The interior design draws on Chongqing’s distinctive urban character – defined by its layered topography, staircases and alleyways – to create a spatial experience that mimics the cinematic quality of the city’s streets. A palette of monochromatic materials and bold colours, particularly Klein Blue, is used in contrast to neutral backgrounds to create visual identity and orientation throughout the space. Interior features such as bridges, lifts and balconies connect the mall’s multiple levels, forming a dynamic network of walkways that encourage exploration.
The project uses design as a subtle but functional wayfinding strategy. Instead of relying heavily on signage, it integrates spatial cues – from textures and lighting to ceiling patterns – to intuitively guide movement. Signage, when used, aligns with the overall design language and features clean typography and colour-coded levels to reinforce navigation without disrupting the visual rhythm. Materials such as silver anodised stainless steel and white aluminium support a consistent and modern aesthetic.
CLOU’s design treats the mall as a continuous urban streetscape, populated by small shops, cafés and kiosks. These elements transform corridors into informal public spaces, blurring the line between circulation and congregation areas. The result is an interior environment that is deliberately layered, easy to navigate and reflective of Chongqing’s built environment.
Related: The Yoohoo Museum by Aedeas
Additional collaborators on the project include LEOX (lighting design), WAA+ (landscape design) and CTDI (local design institute). The signage was also developed by CLOU.
CLOU Architects
clouarchitects.com
WAA+ (Landscape Design)
waa-ap.com
Photography
Archexist
Listen to this podcast episode with Gensler’s Robbie Robertson
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Gaggenau’s understated appliance fuses a carefully calibrated aesthetic of deliberate subtraction with an intuitive dynamism of culinary fluidity, unveiling a delightfully unrestricted spectrum of high-performing creativity.
A longstanding partnership turns a historic city into a hub for emerging talent
It’s widely accepted that nature – the original, most accomplished design blueprint – cannot be improved upon. But the exclusive Crypton Leather range proves that it can undoubtedly be enhanced, augmented and extended, signalling a new era of limitless organic materiality.
From guided tours of stunning private homes to playful installations in Katong-Joo Chiat, this year’s Archifest invites everyone to explore how design shapes daily life – no architectural degree required.
Take a whirlwind tour of some of the standout appearances at 3daysofdesign 2025.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
New Australian modular seating brand, Knotte, has collaborated with Melbourne designer, Joanne Odisho, to develop its latest range, Almas. We asked her to tell us more.
Featuring prominent Sydney designers and hosted by Royal Oak Floors, this panel event will ask: What does it take to build a practice that’s distinctive and unmistakably yours?