Eastern Style B
Area: 600 sqm
This is a very interesting project. The client purchased two villas with identical layouts and merged the two courtyards to create a single, unified space.
Located in Suzhou. To control costs, the scheme retains the original water feature location while reconstructing a water feature system imbued with a strong Eastern aesthetic. The area between the two buildings is largely left as open space, serving as an outdoor dining and activity area.
Drawing upon Suzhou's native Jiangnan garden culture, I have attempted to deconstruct the spiritual essence of the traditional Eastern Zen-inspired private garden, presenting an Eastern natural aesthetic through a more contemporary language.
The heart of the courtyard lies in the use of stone. Irregular natural rough stones are placed along the water's edge and beside the pathways, evoking the raw texture of a mountain stream. Irises and ferns dot the banks, injecting a sense of dynamic vitality and coolness into the static hardscape.
Large sliding glass doors and building overhangs blur the boundary between indoors and outdoors. In the early morning and at dusk, sunlight filters through the branches of crape myrtle and maple trees, casting shifting shadows across the gray-toned pavement and building facades, allowing the courtyard to express different spatial moods at different times of the day.
