Location:
Hillion Residences, Singapore

Area:
43 m² / 463 ft²

Completion:
May 2018

The design of residential spaces has been constantly evolving. On one end of the spectrum we witness apartments in Manhattan experimenting with the super-tall and the super-luxurious, on the other end we see the city-state of Singapore often dealing with the ultra-compact.

The pragmatics of dwelling increase in challenge as apartments decrease in size. The owner of this 43-square-meter apartment is a young professional who enjoys cooking and periodic gatherings with friends over a meal coupled with a movie screening at home. The space also requires easy switching between work and relaxation, and to create a sense of privacy and retreat from the hustle and bustle of densely built-up residential blocks, busy transportation stations and retail establishments in its surroundings.

The design addresses these functional and experiential aspirations with a series of design syntheses. Firstly, a glass sliding-folding partition is placed at the end of the kitchen counter both to contain the scents of cooking and to define this space as an entry foyer, giving a layered approach to the main apartment space. Secondly, the key elements of bed, sofa, working and dining table, coffee table are fused together as an assemblage of horizontal planes operating at different heights and forming a sculpted landscape that rises from the ground, simultaneously creating volumes underneath as spaces for storage. Thirdly, this resultant piece of furniture intervention fulfils the functional requirements while moulding the space at the same time: small steps leading to the elevated loft bed transform the approach to the bed into an ascend to intimacy; diagonal ledges continue the rise of the steps to form a sense of containment on three sides of the bed; stepped platforms accommodate the sofa and spontaneous seating, demarcating space without segregating.

The carpentry works are finished in the same wood-grain laminate so as to achieve a monochromatic materiality. It is within this singularity of colour and material that the sculptural qualities of the design become more pronounced, and the space feels akin to being carved out of a single piece of wood. This clarity of form thus achieved heightens the sense of movement evoked by the broad diagonals and stirs the imagination to read these spatial geometries as shapes of nature. The ultimate goal of the design is to transcend the physical confines of the space to create atmospheres of vastness, serenity, and poetics.

“情理之中，意料之外”

建筑艺术因其内在的功能性要求，相对于其他的艺术形式更加重视作品的合乎情理。倘若建筑仅仅满足实用需求，它将被归类为一门科学或一项技艺，而不能跻身艺术的殿堂。建筑之所以贵为艺术，是因为它包含了“意料之外”的审美准则。

屋主是一位年轻的专业人士， 实用需求包括厨房的分隔与充足的储物柜，空间感则必须宜动宜静：独自休息时要幽静私密，与朋友聚会时要宽敞明朗。一切都合乎常理，但将要求一一放置在43平米的空间里，一切却又变得极富挑战性。

梯级节节攀升，托起了睡床也囊括了大大小小的储物柜，再延伸成为茶几、沙发，并与桌子和对面的电视柜勾勒出一个山谷的势态。这么一个缓坡凝聚了所有的功能，也牵引着空间的动与静：往＂山顶＂走，空间渐趋隐私； 向＂山谷＂行，氛围逐步开朗。

对角线条是山坡的缩影，也寓意着山峰，启发超越现有空间的物外联想，仿佛置身于山林之中。对有限空间的超脱，是针对这项目的必要处理，即在情理之中，也造就了设计的意料之外。

Photography by Studio Periphery.