for the design of ‘harmony courtyard’, shuhei aoyama considered how best to create a comfortable contemporary living space for a less traditional household – a one-person household. covering an area of 1292 ft2 (120 m2), the interior space breaks with traditional layouts. the design team dismantled all the partition walls in the original space, and created a courtyard-like public area in the middle of the space. the space appears to be a traditional chinese courtyard when looking down at it. if the roof is removed, the bedroom, toilet, shower room, and kitchen, etc. around the yard could be seen from above. the designer tried to compress the private space as much as possible, so as to leave more space for the public area, where life will be enjoyed. this home is no longer a closed living space, but a dwelling for the emerging one-person households, which is more open and embraces more possibilities.

 

designers experiment to envision interiors of the future at beijing's artpark9 designboom

harmony courtyard by shuhei aoyama, image © jin weiqi