The Full Moon
THE FULL MOON
SHISUO design office
ARCHITECTS
SHISUO design office
DESIGN IN CHARGE
Sanif, Changshan
PLANNING AND PRESENTATION
Shanghai Power Station Of Art (PSA)
CONSTRUCTION TEAM
Shanghai Sun Exhibition Services Co.,LTD.—— Zhang Ying, Yue Jianping (Project Managers) Shi Lingfeng, Li Long, Li Anguo, Zhang Hui, Shen Fei, Shi Kaifeng, Zhang Xuebing, Wang Fei, Li Yajun, Etc.
COLLABORATING ARTIST
Shi Qinling（the Xuhui Fenglin "Shanghai-style Paper-cutting" Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor）
DESIGN TEAM
Lin Zihan, Zhang Yich
PHOTOGRAPHS
Jianyuan Ye
AREA
20 m²
YEAR
2025
LOCATION
Shanghai, China
CATEGORY
Installations & Structures
English description provided by the architects.
Invited by the Power Station of Art (PSA), SHISUO Design Office has unveiled "The Full Moxon" an urban public art installation celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Shanghai.
The installation was realized in collaboration with Shi Qinling, a Shanghai-style paper-cutting inheritor, and is themed around the moon, rabbits, and the art of paper-cutting.
Across various cultures, the rabbit holds a unique place in the human imagination as one of the few animal figures beloved by all.
In China's classical Mid-Autumn folklore, the rabbit is a constant companion to the moon—the moon symbolizes the cyclical waxing and waning of existence, while the rabbit metaphorically represents the vitality, growth, and flourishing of all beings.
With a long history, Shanghai-style paper-cutting brings a unique festive charm to the Chinese New Year.
Shi Qinling, the inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage, presents traditional rabbit character through this traditional art—capturing them in motion, leaping, looking back, standing, playing, chasing and so on.
These diverse poses are ingeniously arranged in the "Three Hares with Conjoined Ears" motif, a classic pattern originally found in the caisson ceilings of the Dunhuang Murals.
SHISUO then offers a creative reinterpretation, using crackle-textured acrylic panels as construction materials to re-imagine these paper hares, evoking endless imaginations of the "Jade Hare on the Moon."
As viewers circle around this "moon" with a sliced-away corner, or stroll leisurely along the shoreline, the installation shifts like a lunar phase theater, revealing "waxing and waning'" from different angles—much like the philosophical moon by the riverside described by poets millennia ago.
People may always encounter a full moon at some turn, its momentary perfection akin to humanity's collective nostalgia for eternal beauty.
Inside the "moon" is designed as a walkable domed space, where silhouettes of rabbits in various poses overlap and encircle one another, while the top remains open.
The moon's trajectory is precisely calculated—on a clear Mid-Autumn Festival night, when one gazes through the opening, they can find the full moon hanging in the sky through the cut.
August to October marks the peak typhoon season in Shanghai, and since the installation is situated on a deck along the Huangpu River, structural safety becomes the foremost priority. The longitude-latitude spherical structure offers relatively low technical complexity, facilitating rapid installation and dismantling.
The overall framework is constructed from square steel tubes with a diameter of 30mm, with additional reinforcement applied to the longitudinal members and the arched components around the opening to meet the cantilever requirements resulting from the segmented sphere.
The paper-cut-inspired rabbit silhouettes, made from waterproof acrylic panels, create an openwork pattern across the spherical surface.
This design allows river winds to pass through, effectively dissipating wind loads and minimizing their impact on the installation at the same time.
"The Full Moon" installation was exhibited for a limited time of seven days at the West Bund Shipyard Pier,Shanghai during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
The floor covering the area was temporarily removed, numbered, and preserved. The steel frame base was connected to the concrete beneath the floor, providing the structure with excellent wind resistance to ensure safety against potential typhoon risks.
After the exhibition period ended, the floor was restored according to the numbered sections, returning the site to its original state without leaving any trace.
In the sky, rabbits chase one another to form the moon; on earth, For miles around we share the moon's pure glow. Through "The Full Moon" SHISUO conveys the Chinese cultural longing for fulfillment and reunion.
