Apartment Balcony Lights in Laoximen, Changde

The project is a building in Laoximen, Changde City. The first three floors are commercial, the fourth through sixth are

a parking garage, and the seventh through seventeenth are residential. The facade of the residential portion has a

uniquely arranged patchwork of balconies.

A balcony transmits information about its occupant based on whether its light is on or off. Lighting lets one know

whether a place is lively or quiet, or whether some form of celebration is taking place. In our times, the balcony is

highly significant as a portal through which we connect to the outside world, a semi-open living room linking residents

to the street. Life needs a sense of ceremony, much like that of dressing up. A balcony needs a light for the obvious

reason of illumination. But we tweaked that light just a bit to reduce the glare and give more intensity to light directed

upward, producing two effects: The balcony is illuminated as needed for the occupant, and the ceiling is illuminated to

produce beauty for onlookers from the street. The dimming of the parking garage lighting serves to separate the

residential area from the commercial area of the building. It looks different from differing angles and heights. The

intensity gives the building a sense of ceremony while the light penetrates into people's lives, though they are

unaware of how meaningful it is. We think a carefully designed balcony light is valuable, and as this one is only five

watts, it embodies the aesthetic concept that less is more.