Architects: Topos Design Clans
Project: Artland Home in Shanghai
Architect in charge: LIN Chen
Team: LV Jie, ZHU Jianming, LU Liyuan
Location: Shanghai, China
Area: 80 m2
Year 2018
Photographer: CreatAR Images（AI Qing,WU Jianquan）
In this city, people are struggling for surviving, but the braves are chasing their dreams and loves.
Realistic Utopia
Invited by the Chinese space design and renovation TV program“Change your life”, TOPOS DESIGN CLANS designed an unique home art studio，which is an artland making life better. The site is a rental apartment with 80 square meters, located in a high-rise building on Fengyang Road, where is the old downtown of Shanghai. TOPOS DESIGN CLANS believes in the philosophy of realistic Utopia, we create good in the real world. It is a space design and renovation about life and art, and also a prototype study of new lifestyle.
Neither Life Nor Art
Seven is a painter, Jackie is his wife. Before getting married, they both had a shepherd dog. The family of four lived in a rented apartment. The painting space occupied every corners in the apartment, with full of chaos and dangers. In short, there was neither life nor art in their previous home. Loving and caring for each other, they had different and thoughtful design requirements for the renovation: Seven hopes to provide a warm and loving living space for Jackie; Jackie wants to provide a free and open studio space for Seven. We believe that life and art are actually not conflict, instead, art can make life elegant and delicate, with full of rituality.
Space as Canvas, Life as Color
Thinking out of the box, we suppose the new living room is an unusual type of space , which is a container of life and art. In the terms of colors, living room is temperately organized with simple black and white. It is like a three-dimensional canvas, with the life as the color on it. The grey ceramic tiles are used for the floor coverings, which are easy to be cleaned, and the original texture feels raw but real. There hangs a whole surface of luminous ceiling, covered with three pieces of full-length PVC membrane. The luminous ceiling provides three types of lighting modes, respectively, for painting, exhibition and living. In the corner space beside the entrance, there is a group of storage cabinets. After investigating the painter’s working behaviors, we categorized his drawing tools in different cabinets according to their sizes and uses. Among the cabinets, there hides a movable partition with two-meter width, which can be a display wall for gallery.
The balcony becomes a mini full functional life center. With plenty of sunlight, Jackie lying on the couch, Seven painting on the canvas, it is just like a fascinating colorful painting. There are several types of storage cabinets on the both sides of the new studio: the peg board for model kits, the bookcase below the window, and the corner cabinets for large paintings. And furthermore, we customized a multi-functional large table, which is not only for handcrafting, but also for dinner parties. On the right side of the entryway there is a small golden niche, which is for the keys and the dog chains. On the other side, there is a shoe cabinet, which can be pulled out.
East, West, Home is Best
In the center of this artland home, there is a golden kennel for two dogs. The main façade of the kennel is an abstract pixelised drawing wall created from the portrait of them. The golden kennel has different sizes of embedded space, not just for the two puppies ’living, but also for placing different sizes of art installations. The corridor continues using the golden plates, which becomes an extension of the gallery. There are three hidden doors in this folding corridor, covering three colorful private rooms.
Green Jungle，Blue Sea，Pink Love
Three private rooms are the essential part of the fundamental life, better with minimal forms to present. First of all, the theme color of the restroom is jungle green, using green handmade tiles on the wall. The pink toilet becomes a bright spot in this poky space. Secondary, the theme color of the kitchen is lake blue in various degrees. The yellow cushions and the yellow lamp make a perfect dating place. The last but not least, the bedroom is decorated with the pink painting on the wall, with two windows facing east and south. With Seven’s painting of pink on the wall, the bedroom is full of romance and love.
The Future is Pink
Seven said: “The future is pink, and pink is love.” Our graphic designer Suzy designed a pink household logo, displayed by projecting shadow on the wall.7 is Seven’s lucky number, 11 is Jackie’s nickname, and this becomes the manifesto of their love. In the end of this TV program, the design team decided to sponsor a private art exhibition for Seven and Jackie. When Seven’s paintings were appreciated and complimented, Jackie was so happy and excited. At that moment, the humanity and the warmth was shining in their new artland home.
Life is hard, but we never forget dreams and loves. The meaning of design is to make life better.
