Creating a Series of Platforms with Difference in Height and Materials

This is a 90-square-meter apartment adjacent to a mountain hill full of trees and bamboos. A couple live in it with a dog, and a lively statue of Dharma.

The couple enjoy indoor leisure as much as outdoor activities. They would delve into floral and culinary art for pleasure, or go deep in the woods and valley for adventure. When they showed me this refined yet rugged statue of silver and white, I was intrigued by the dual characteristic they all possess.

Hence, I imagined the interior as the outdoors by creating a series of platforms differ in height and materiality. One could walk and sit on warm wooden-surface, and deal with daily-work on hard stone-counter. The variation of height echoes the natural terrain of the adjacent hill, and is also a metaphor of the wave beneath Dharma’s feet. Underneath them, are ample room for storage.

The apartment is essentially an open space. The platforms function as multi-purpose furniture for individual or collective to nestle upon. The space is a den for two, and is also a retreat for friends. Dharma floats in a cave-like cabinet on the axis of the day-to-day, as if all is in his gaze.

Sit at will, bath in cave, find a soothing corner to contemplate. Space flows from one to another; being within is as if being out there.

The owner and I have known each other for over half of our life. We ventured vast forest and climbed majestic mountains together through the years. This space is the distillation of our life-long memories, I wish it provides them comfort and peace of mind, as our friendship goes on.

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Project name: YL Apartment / Dharma Den
Architecture Office: Marty Chou Architecture
Principal Architect: Marty Chou
Photography: Doc. Marty Chou Architecture

About Marty Chou Architecture
Marty Chou received his Bachelor of Architecture in University of Toronto, Canada in 2002, and Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design in Columbia University, New York, USA in 2005. Since 2016, he has been teaching architecture design studio in NTUT, Taipei, Taiwan.

“Marty Chou Architecture” was founded in 2013, and has since been dedicated to pursue the art of clarity and the beauty of simplicity in architecture. Works are published in international media and have won 2018 WIN Award, 2020 A’ Design Award, 2021 Golden Pin Design Award, 2017 / 2020 / 2021(Gold Award) TID Award, and 2021 Architizer A+ Award Popular Choice Winner.