Project name: Apartment C2 — Cool Gentleman
Design firm: AD ARCHITECTURE (WWW.ARCH-AD.COM)
Chief designer: Xie Peihe
Design team: AD ARCHITECTURE
Construction team: AD CONSTRUCTION
Location: Shantou, Guangdong, China
Construction area: 205 m2
Main materials: marble, matte brick, special effects paint, white matte paint, wood veneer, wooden flooring
Start time: October 2018
Completion time: May 2019
Photography: Ouyang Yun
Special thanks to: German Moorgen Smart Home, Amina (invisible speaker), Beamy (wooden flooring), Kohler, Hansgorhe, Rolansini (doors and windows), Oikos, Heal-Power, Fanpin (wood veneers), Daxing (stone materials).
Life in Living Machines
“A house is a machine for living in” — Le Corbusier
We now live in a different era, but modern cities are still filled with “living machines”. With the change of the times and living demands, our requirements for home and living environment have also undergone drastic transformation. This time, through approaching the interior design of two apartments, we want to re-examine the interpretation of living environment, express a different voice on design, and focus more on the emotional and spiritual connections between people and space.
Architectural space is not just an object. it exists in the inter-relationship between people. The spirit of humans and architectures are interdependent and influential, therefore, the more one pay attention to his/her personal value, the more they pursue the uniqueness and diversity of the dwelling spaces.
Apartment C2: Cool Gentleman
Apartment C2 is defined as a cool gentleman, a rational and logical living environment. The space seems to be dynamic, an existence to stabilize the changing physical world. It is a kind of logic outside of geometry, a form in motion.
With a character that combines calmness and elegance, it is like a fashion darling dressed in a black tuxedo. The color palette of black and white, and the simple yet exquisite furnishings, showcase our new explorations into the decoration of human living environments, and pursuit of a minimalist lifestyle.
Going after large spatial scale, futuristic surfaces and smart home system, this is our understanding and impression of modern luxury homes. Functionality is only to meet the basic demands of modern life, while experience and sense of rituality are pursuits at a higher level, which are becoming increasingly important. What we are exploring is using space to express one’s temperament and personality.
The balcony garden at the entrance area links up with the living room and dining room, and the open kitchen enriches the layering and rhythm of the space. There is no boundary set by traditional means such as a foyer or backdrop, only the flexible rhythm and fluidity of movement, making life here unconstrained. We hoped to regularize the disorganized objects, and establish an order. By repeating an abstract element in the space, we aimed to inject harmony and spirituality into the space.
The bedroom is dominated by a white tone, with the curved lines corresponding with the elements of the living room, harmonious and unified. The white ceiling, walls and beddings go well with the black wooden floor, combined with lighting design, creating a spatial environment which intermingles the dynamic and static.
The interiors show meticulous details and exquisite craftsmanship. The curved shapes of the ceiling, the combination of stone floorings and imported handmade wooden floor boards, and the hollowed-out luminous wall, all posed a challenge to craftsmen during the production and construction process.
As for the living environment of modern cities, we wish to break the routine, find the soul of the space and carry out exploratory design. We are making a stand.
Art should not be beyond reach. Each of our design works has its own spatial expression, and artistic quality and spirituality outside physicality.