YL Apartment / Dharma Den

This is a 90-square-meter apartment adjacent to a mountain hill full of trees and bamboos.  A couple live in it with a dog, and a lively statue of Dharma.

The couple enjoy indoor leisure as much as outdoor activities.  They would delve into floral and culinary art for pleasure, or go deep in the woods and valley for adventure. When they showed me this refined yet rugged statue of silver and white, I was intrigued by the dual characteristic they all possess.

Hence, I imagined the interior as the outdoors by creating a series of platforms differ in height and materiality.  One could walk and sit on warm wooden-surface, and deal with daily-work on hard stone-counter.  The variation of height echoes the natural terrain of the adjacent hill, and is also a metaphor of the wave beneath Dharma’s feet.  Underneath them, are ample room for storage.

The apartment is essentially an open space. The platforms function as multi-purpose furniture for individual or collective to nestle upon.  The space is a den for two, and is also a retreat for friends.  Dharma floats in a cave-like cabinet on the axis of the day-to-day, as if all is in his gaze.

Sit at will, bath in cave, find a soothing corner to contemplate.  Space flows from one to another; being within is as if being out there.

The owner and I have known each other for over half of our life.  We ventured vast forest and climbed majestic mountains together through the years.  This space is the distillation of our life-long memories, I wish it provides them comfort and peace of mind, as our friendship goes on.

達摩窟

這間28坪、鄰近山林的居所，住著一對夫妻，和一尊達摩。

太太喜歡讀書插花，先生愛下廚做飯、與朋友飲酒喝茶；不時會攜手遠離城市，踏入荒山溪谷。因緣偶遇一銀白相間的達摩，其細膩粗獷、動靜兼具的特質恰如他們的寫照。

因此我想像在屋內活動彷彿穿梭在山野間，創造一系列木、石紋交織的平台。木紋溫潤可走、坐，石紋剛硬應付粗活。內部是儲藏，外部滿足生活需求。高低起伏回應屋外山坡地形變化，並暗喻達摩腳下波浪。

空間開放，可隔兩房。平台可供多人休憩，也可如露宿野外般鋪墊平躺。一座櫃體如壁窟，達摩懸置其中，凝守生活起居軸心。

放鬆時隨地坐，幽靜石穴中梳洗。在任一處，能望向周圍延伸的空間；在屋內，彷彿身處屋外山林中。

屋主與我相識三十年，我們曾一起走入北美遼闊的森林，爬上台灣雋永的山脈。年輕時沒想過，會為他們在不惑之年完成此人生階段的居所。這空間是共同回憶的淬鍊，希望他們往後生活在此，如隱世賢者，自在瀟灑。