Fortress Metro Tower
The style of this 380-foot love nest is minimal industrial. In addition to facilitating the owners’ daily needs, the design needed to emphasize spaciousness and functionality so as to balance the public and private zones. Overall, the design is based on the concepts introduced by Japanese “Clutter Consultant,” Hideko Yamashita: “refuse, throw away, separate.” The design “refuses” all unnecessary partitioning and gets rid of everything that could form a barrier.
This creates an unobstructed view within the flat, making it look more spacious. The kitchen uses an open design, with appliances and cupboards built in – practical while taking little space. The original layout of the bathroom has been modified to create space for a laundry room and a shoe cabinet. Glass is used for the partitioning walls for the bathroom, ensuring views inside the flat remain unobstructed.
By “throwing away” all impractical design details and extravagant ornaments, the flat dons a consistently minimal style. The design incorporates different kinds of natural materials: glass, representing transparency and modernism; timber, representing warmth and nature; cast stone in the kitchen, representing texture and coarseness. These different natural patterns and visual elements complement each other, making the home modest and simple.
To “separate” from the traditional partitioning methods, different areas in the flat are demarcated by colors, material finishing, and structural elements. Cool tones of black, grey, and white are used in different rooms. The bathroom, bedroom, and studying room are delineated with glass and timber. Dropped ceiling, beams, and electrical rolling blinds also mark off boundaries to different spaces.