Drifting House

This apartment renovation project is for a couple in their 50s. They love to read and have a considerable collection of books. Their wish was to spend an active life with the books in open space like a studio room.



This simple phrase from the client ” Books set me free” came up during a casual conversation became a starting point for this project. As I recognized that for the client, the reading experience is not only an accumulation of knowledge but also an expansion of thinking and act of capturing and mapping the future. My question then was how to connect the sense of freedom through reading and spatial experience by living. This lead me to the idea of creating a space free from the weight of books.

I cam up with a plan to loosely divide the studio with bookcases and closets which are not connected to the ceiling nor to the floor and serve gently as walls. By having objects that floats in the air they no longer function as separation of the rooms but connects all as one fluid space.

In this house, light wind and sound flow gently through the ceiling and floor from various directions, no matter where you are. The couple somehow feel each other’s presence, and move freely as if they were drifting in a zero-gravity space, spending time with their books as they please. The relationship between the book and the couple’s life will change with the passage of time. I hope tis will continue to capture those variations and provide space for comfort.

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