Xintiandi

Fuzhou is a city that rose with the sea, and it places particular emphasis on the emotional bonds among home, courtyard, and people. Drawing on the classical imagery of green mountains, mist, flowing water, level corridors, and elegant courtyards found in traditional Chinese painting, the design fuses these motifs with a modern language to depict a warm contemporary residence where home and courtyard interpenetrate. The project unfolds through three painted realms. The first realm, treading water and chasing dreams, addresses the deep-set main entrance facing the city, emphasizing order and symmetry and drawing the eye to a blank feature wall at the end. The entrance wall uses framing views to bring a clean mountain-and-water image into sight, with arrays of bubbling fountains opposing a central still water pool to create a unified and ritualistic picture. Rich facade texture and layered spatial depth reinforce an Eastern first impression. The second realm, winding paths and quiet contemplation, turns from the entrance hall into the courtyard along a leisurely curving path where irregular paving resembles ink splashed on the ground, with white sand and lawn as the canvas for sunlight and shadows. The third realm, courtyard and building in dialogue, uses blank walls with super-wide horizontal proportions as the primary space-organizing elements, guiding the rhythm of the stroll. A level bridge crosses the water, offering views of rippling shallows, layered water, and playful fountains. Under glass-fronted buildings, the opening and closing of landscape heightens the flowing light, and lighting beneath the still pool conveys the vitality of courtyard life. The project is located in Fuzhou, Fujian, with a site area of 13,000 square meters.