Guangzhou Qiaoxin Hui Yuetai

Kaisa Huiyuetai in Guangzhou is an Italian-minimalist private residence designed by Xie Yinqiu for a couple returning from many years living overseas. Perched above the Pearl River, the apartment looks out from the Tianhe district over the Canton Tower's multicoloured glow, the dense skyline and the arc of Liede Bridge crossing the winding river. The clients, having seen the world's richness and noise, prefer a clean, uncluttered appearance, a reassuring tactile quality, refined flowing lines and an understated, natural presence. Less is more is read here as spiritual quiet: quality living is distilled, without dependence on external effect, focusing only on the shifting light and the inner life. In this duplex space, light gives the designer his subject. Natural light pours in through a 270-degree window and merges with the city view outside, transparent and flexible, like an island of light suspended in the air and charged with healing energy. When smooth light enters, the whole space divides into light and dark; the reception room is wrapped in flood-like illumination, and a soft white sofa group gathers the people in the room around the light as if in a ritual saluting the sun. Bands of light projected through architectural gaps change posture through the day, slowly passing over an armchair by Oscar Niemeyer, a slim Flexform coffee table, a Cappellini S-chair in flowing lines, and the playful crystal of Flos lighting. The design is organised as the cutting of light, the carving of form and the proposition that the useless is the great use: a minimal upper-light interior in which every material object is held at the service of a single, quiet relationship with the city beyond the window.