Bvlgari at Shanghai Plaza 66 — Serpenti Illumination Ceremony (2013)

Shanghai Plaza 66's front plaza hosted a one-night illuminated Serpenti serpent sculpture and switch-on ceremony for Bulgari in November 2013.

The venue

Plaza 66 is a luxury shopping mall on Nanjing West Road in Shanghai's Jing'an district, part of a twin-tower office and retail complex. Its street-facing front plaza and entrance forecourt are paved open areas where pedestrians pass between the road, the mall doors and the towers. The mall's tenant mix is high-end fashion, jewellery and watches, and the outdoor frontage is regularly used for seasonal displays.

How the space was used

For the one-night lighting ceremony, the front plaza held a large illuminated sculpture shaped as a coiled serpent, its body winding above the paved area. The installation stood as the visual focus of the forecourt, with the mall entrance behind it. The switch-on took place in the evening, with actress Cherie Chung attending, and the public area stayed open around the piece.

Why it works here

The forecourt sits in a dense commercial stretch with heavy evening pedestrian movement and clear sightlines from the street, so a lit object placed there is seen by shoppers and passers-by without ticketing or queueing. The mall's luxury jewellery positioning makes a serpent-form jewellery motif legible to its audience.