Jade Apartments

This project is situated in the urban redevelopment zone at the base of Huangqi Mountain in Dongguan, known for its giant lantern, one of the Eight Scenic Spots. Unlike the brilliance of modern neon lights, the lantern's glow evokes a timeless beauty, preserving warmth and symbolizing the enduring essence of light.

We deconstructed the lantern’s layers of meaning—from its tangible landscape presence and play of light and shadow to its symbolic language—focusing on light as our entry point. Our goal is to reimagine and translate these elements into architecture, emphasizing the coexistence and interaction of light and space, rather than merely using light as a functional aspect of the built environment. Throughout the space, we apply the lantern concept at various scales, allowing light to flow freely, unbound by form yet transformed through different shapes and materials. This experimentation lets light interact and evolve within the space.

To maintain the symbolic connection with the surrounding hills and Huangqi Mountain, the spatial volumes interweave void and solid elements. The 'void' introduces layered axes that guide movement, while the 'solid' forms the paths that traverse the space. Between the first and second floors, elevated atriums, corridors, and platforms intersect horizontally and vertically, encouraging exploration at different heights. The skylight system at the top of the third-floor atrium is also designed to shape light through architecture. To prevent light from falling directly and diffusely, we incorporated a shading system. Sunlight filters through the mesh and is refracted by slanted panels, altering its angle through the skylight and softly diffusing it indoors. As noted, 'space is our sculpting tool for light,' with light serving as a material that can be either sharply defined or gently softened.