In Beijing’s Mima Café (see pages 186–189), Wang Hui created a 15-square-meter (161-square-foot) “vanishing” stainless steel cube in the courtyard containing a kitchen and bathroom. The design is in part a response to regulations demanding that any architectural work here should not compromise the spirit of the surrounding buildings.
Respect for history and the traditional family living arrangements is being increasingly recognized in this new architectural movement as thoughts turn from chai (demolition) to bao (preservation). There is a realization that new is not always better when it comes to redevelopment. “We want to remind people how to bring older elements into a contemporary environment,” says Daker Tsoi of The Lifestyle Centre, the developer behind The Bridge 8 complex in Shanghai—a former automotive plant that has been reconfigured as a creative retail and working space. “We always keep in mind that developing so-called Chinese culture is not just about taking an old drawing or just putting two Qing chairs in your living room. Rather it’s about how people live, the size of the streets, the spatial rhythms and what they feel comfortable with. These are interesting elements that can be brought into contemporary architecture to represent China.”
In Hong Kong—one of the most exciting and vibrant cities in the world—residential design continues to push new boundaries. Leading designers here are creating homes with global appeal, applying new technologies and design concepts like nowhere else on the planet. Especially popular are homes providing new solutions for urban living in compact spaces. As befits a multi-cultural and international city, the people behind the projects come from varied backgrounds and are producing design directions that draw on their own individual experiences and world vision. Style and sophistication are the key, with inspirations from the classical Chinese attributes of balance, order and harmony being reinterpreted with a modern twist.
For the purposes of this book, contemporary Chinese design and architecture have been divided into four sections or “schools”—each revealing a different approach. “New Creativity” explores the work of designers who are revisiting classic Chinese motifs and architectural forms to produce elegant new spaces that are minimalist yet imaginative. Each project takes its inspiration from Chinese culture and art, reworked in a sophisticated manner to be compatible with modern living requirements. Highlights include a stark white stone pavilion by Beijing-based designer, master chef and musician JinR; a clean-lined villa by Clarence Chiang and Hannah Lee; and a garden courtyard house by Rocco Yim.
“Urban Innovation” focuses on forward thinking, cutting-edge urban interiors. Energetic, inspirational and progressive, these projects subtly hint at cultural origins yet look firmly towards the future. City apartments such as those designed by Darryl W. Goveas, Ed Ng, Gary Chang and James Law reveal how innovative materials, flexible spatial transformations and the latest in cyber technologies can produce new and exciting residential interiors.
Experimental designs take precedence in “Elemental Appeal”, which reveals how architects, designers and creative thinkers are pushing beyond established boundaries to create residences that favor function over luxury, innovation over tradition. Such unconventional approaches to design embody a respect for the past— simplicity of form, sense of craftsmanship—but they juxtapose the traditional and the modern in an un-inhibited way that often borders on the austere. The modernist influence is strong and homes featured include art collector Guan Yi’s residence containing his huge collection of contemporary installation art and Ai Wei Wei’s austere grey brick duplex, now home to photographer couple RongRong and inri.
By contrast, “City Glamour” focuses on cosmopolitan inner city residences full of vision and flair. Here, Chinese and global elements combine with panache, infusing classic inspirations with contemporary textures, colors and patterning. Examples include Kenneth Grant Jenkins’ geometric art deco duplex; Kent Lui’s inside-out apartment and Andre Fu’s Peak apartment full of lacquer finishes, wood veneers and Chinoiserie-style fabrics.
Such breath of vision, in all its permutations, reveals a single truth about Chinese design today: that the pace of change is every increasing. Freed from rules and restrictions, designers are now able to absorb influences from every quarter and chart their own path. The groundwork for the future of Chinese design is being laid today.
Gary Chang's Suitcase House at the Commune by the Great Wall (see pages 176–179) soars over the sloping terrain. The 40-meter (130-foot) rectangular box structure is a steel frame clad with teakwood from Western China.
suzhou river duplex a cool zen-like space
Designer JIANG QIONG ER | Suzhou River SHANGHAI
THE SHANGHAI RESIDENCE of French architect Jean-Marie Charpentier is an exercise in Zen elegance—with pure sweeping lines and a minimalist approach. Based primarily in Paris, Charpentier, who founded Arte-Charpentier et Associes in 1969, has contributed to a number of key architectural projects in China, including the innovative Shanghai Grand Theatre.
A firm believer in nurturing Chinese design talent, Charpentier is also a partner in Shanghai-based Vep Design, alongside creative talent Jiang Qiong Er (see page 102). To create a home for his frequent visits to the city, Charpentier chose a 350-square-meter (3767-square-foot) duplex apartment on the edge of the Suzhou River and asked Jiang to redesign the space for him.
“He preferred to make something simple and pure,” explains Jiang, who completely reworked the structure, opened up the space and installed a sweeping circular staircase in the middle to link the two levels. The curves of the staircase allow good energy flow and provide a sense of visual and sensual harmony. On the ground floor is a huge, double-height living room featuring a wall of windows which enable maximum light to enter the space. “Previously the proportions were not good so I installed the double windows to make the space work,” says Jiang.
The upper level, which comprises a balconied area that wraps over the living room below and has bedrooms leading off to the sides, provides space for a study and to display Charpentier’s collection of old musical instruments. Along the edge of the space is a long, wooden seating structure with a sloping back, based on the traditional Chinese mei ren kao bench, a kind of reclining garden chair.
In keeping with the minimalist, balanced proportions of the space, the furnishings are low key: antique, clean-lined blackwood Chinese chairs, an elegant altar table and cabinet and modern European designer pieces. The palette consists of muted tones of off-white, grey and stone. It is a serene space, perfect for contemplation and the ideal counterfoil to the dynamic, fast pace of the city outside.
The curvaceous staircase is an exercise in simplicity—its sweeping, circular lines enhance the sense of visual harmony and seamlessly link the two levels of the space.
The curvaceous lines of the staircase are echoed by a circular depression in the ceiling designed to showcase the light source. Pale carpeting echoes the neutral palette and adds warmth to the space.
On the upper level, a bench inspired by the traditional Chinese mei ren kao bench found in Anhui’s classical gardens functions as both a seating area and as a balcony railing. A guest bedroom can be glimpsed through an internal glass window beyond.
The ground floor salon benefits from double height windows installed to enable maximum