DAGA Architects adds mirrored courtyard to traditional hutong house

Chinese studio DAGA Architects has renovated and modernised a traditional hutong residence in Beijing's Dongcheng district, adding mirrors to the walls and floor of the entrance courtyard to make the space feel larger.

The project is shortlisted in the housing category of 2021's Dezeen Awards and represents an innovative take on the modernisation of these traditional courtyard dwellings.

The project is called Baochao Hutong Mirror Yard

Beijing's hutongs are narrow alleys lined by single-storey courtyard houses called siheyuan. The houses were often joined together to create a hutong, with several hutongs then combining to form a neighbourhood.

DAGA Architects' project is one of numerous recent attempts to revitalise neglected hutong buildings, including a hotel designed by Fon Studio and a house with curving glass walls by Arch Studio.

DAGA Architects revamped a traditional hutong house

This siheyuan's owner wished to return to the house in which she was raised by her grandparents, but over the years the building had become dilapidated and was in need of comprehensive renovations.

One of the key interventions involved transforming the property's narrow courtyard, which is concealed behind a wooden door facing the street and extends through the centre of the house.

The house features a narrow mirrored courtyard

The architects installed mirrored panels on the floor and a wall at the end of the passage to create the illusion of a much larger space.

The mirrored surfaces reflect the sky and surrounding buildings, as well as the building's interior, which is visible through new full-height glazed walls.

Surroundings are reflected in the mirrored surfaces

"With the continuous changes of reflection and the surrounding environment, the mirrored courtyard shows a rapidly changing beauty," DAGA Architects said. "Each moment is unique and, just like time, cannot be recorded but can only be felt."

The project also involved modernising the residence's interior, which had fallen into a state of disrepair. The existing timber structure was strengthened and the original facade was replaced with the glass curtain wall.

Read:

Jackson Clements Burrows designs mass-timber student accommodation in Melbourne

The house features an open kitchen, dining and living space, as well as a bathroom on one side of the courtyard. Each of the spaces, including the bathroom, is lined with glazing to draw in daylight from the adjacent courtyard.

"The transparent curtain wall adds daylight to the interior space," the studio added, "allowing the line of sight to penetrate each other on both sides of the courtyard, creating an extroverted and introverted courtyard space."

The house features an open living space

On the opposite side of the central passage is a minimalist bedroom and en-suite bathroom, featuring a black and white interior intended to create a calming and tranquil feel.

DAGA Architects believes that the act of renovation and urban renewal should focus on new materials and approaches to design, rather than the straightforward preservation of buildings such as outdated hutong houses.

A minimalist bedroom was designed to encourage tranquility

"Renovation is not the maintenance and reproduction of old buildings," the studio claimed, "but to superimpose a new lifestyle with the old history and create a new contrast and integration. Only innovation can inject new vitality into old buildings."

The Baochao Hutong Mirror Yard project involved just 14 days of construction time on site, with a large team helping to transform the siheyuan into a dwelling designed for modern living.

The photography is by Jin Weiqi.

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Ten cinematic interiors that could be in a Wes Anderson film

Our latest lookbook features retro-flavoured interiors with whimsical pastel colours and symmetrical designs that would be at home in American filmmaker Wes Anderson's films.

As Anderson's latest film, The French Dispatch, hits the cinemas, we take a look at how his distinctive aesthetic has influenced interior projects from Stockholm to Melbourne.

These include a pale pastel-yellow cafe, a swimming pool-like jewellery store and a colourful restaurant, as well as a bar at Milan's Fondazione Prada designed by Anderson himself.

This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbooks series that provides visual inspiration for designers and design enthusiasts. Previous lookbooks include homes with playful slides, smart storage solutions, stylish plywood interiors and interiors with window seats.

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WeWork Weihai, China, by Linehouse

A former opium factory was turned into a 5,500-square-metre WeWork space in Weihai, designed by local studio Linehouse. The studio's design "celebrated the grandeur of the building, encapsulating the feeling of a grand hotel," it said.

The bright colours used for the staircase contrast the formerly derelict turn-of-the-century brick walls, creating a mix between the past and present that Anderson film fans will be familiar with.

Find out more about WeWork Weihai ›

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Cafe Banacado, Sweden, by ASKA

A pale banana-yellow decorates this Stockholm breakfast cafe that was designed to evoke the sun-drenched bars and cafes in more southern climates.

Nostalgic touches such as a vinyl record player and a pink wall covered in Polaroid photos add the perfect retro touch, while decorative arches nod to the late 19th-century design of The Grand Budapest Hotel in Anderson's eponymous film.

Find out more about Cafe Banacado ›

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Gavello store, Greece, by Saint of Athens

This jewellery boutique on the Greek island of Mykonos features light blue tiles, lockers and a pool ladder. Its colourful design was created by Saint of Athens and Dive Architects to resemble a "luxury 1960s swimming pool".

"Soft blue, a colour reminiscent of urban pool luxury of the 1960s, furniture made from metal, vintage elements and custom blue terrazzo displays constitute a retro yet modern, Wes Anderson kind of universe," Saint of Athens founder Nikos Paleologos told Dezeen.

Find out more about Gavello store ›

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Hotel Palace restaurant, Finland, by Note Design Studio

There's something very cinematic about the dreamy retro interior of the restaurant at the Hotel Palace in Helsinki's harbour.

Renovated by Swedish design studio Note Design Studio, it features a teak-lined scheme and soft pink tones that honour its modernist 1950s design.

Opening in time for the Helsinki Summer Olympics in 1952, the hotel itself resembles an ocean liner and has distinctive yellow neon signage.

Find out more about Hotel Palace restaurant ›

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Bar Luce, Italy, by Wes Anderson

When Anderson himself got to design the Bar Luce at the OMA-designed Fondazione Prada in Milan, he drew on the atmosphere of Milanese cafes from the 1950s and 1960s.

The resulting space has colourfully-upholstered Formica furniture, a pink terrazzo floor and a vaulted ceiling covered in patterned wallpaper.

Two pinball machines feature characters from Anderson's The Life Aquatic and Castello Cavalcanti, a short film that he directed for Prada.

Find out more about Bar Luce ›

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Johnson Wax Headquarters, US, by Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright's 1930s design for the Johnson Wax Headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin, looks straight out of one of Anderson's films.

The symmetrically placed filing cabinets and rows of workspaces are offset by quirky, mushroom-shaped columns. Even the name of the main office space – The Great Room – has a cinematic ring to it.

Find out more about Johnson Wax Headquarters ›

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The Budapest Cafe, Australia, by Biasol

Not The Grand Budapest Hotel but The Budapest Cafe, this Melbourne eatery designed by Biasol has architectural motifs such as stylised decorative steps on the wall and arched alcoves.

Dark terracotta and orange hues contrast against sand and beige colours, while classic bentwood chairs evoke the European cafe culture in the interwar period.

Find out more about The Budapest Cafe ›

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Kvadrat textile factory, England, photographed by Alastair Philip Wiper 

The beauty of the mundane is revealed in British photographer Alastair Philip Wiper's photographs of the Wooltex factory in Yorkshire, which is part-owned by Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat.

The pink and yellow colours of the thread being fed into a bright turquoise loom, and the repetitive structure of the setup,  inadvertently make the factory look very Andersonian.

Find out more about Kvadrat textile factory ›

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Bun, Italy, by Masquespacio

The interiors of Milanese burger joint Bun were designed by Spanish studio Masquespacio to be drenched in colour, with a pear-green area contrasted against a lilac hue used in half the restaurant.

The dining area is completely green and features decorative arches and classic white orb lamps, matching the round stools and backrests on the restaurant seating.

Find out more about Bun ›

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Calistoga Motor Lodge, US, by AvroKO

It's not just the name of the mid-century modern Calistoga Motor Lodge in California's Napa Valley that sounds like a place in one of Anderson's films; the interior more than lives up to it.

The bathroom features multiple claw-footed tubs placed in an orderly formation on a tiled floor. Pale-blue tiles cover the walls,  and two oars leaning against the wall evoke the New England-aesthetic of the filmmaker's 2012 movie Moonrise Kingdom.

Find out more about Calistoga Motor Lodge ›

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This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing window seats, plywood interiors and smart storage solutions.

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This week architects and designers anticipated COP26

This week on Dezeen, we spoke to architects and designers ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, which begins this weekend.

In anticipation of the event, 10 architects and designers who are attending told Dezeen about their hopes and fears for the conference.

According to Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) president Simon Allford, the two-week event "marks a critical juncture for humanity".

UK Green Building Council picks 17 "exemplary sustainable projects" for COP26 virtual pavilion

In preparation for the event, the UK Green Building Council picked 17 sustainable projects, including a timber cultural centre in Sweden (pictured), to be displayed at its Build Better Now virtual pavilion during the conference.

Also to mark the event, architecture studio Stride Treglown installed a "sinking" Monopoly-style house (pictured top) in Bath's Pulteney Weir.

Lakwena Maciver paints a "vision of paradise" on the roof of London tube station

In London, the latest in an increasing number of colourful urban installations was opened on top of the Temple Underground station.

Created by Lakwena Maciver, the artwork, called Back in the Air: A Meditation on Higher Ground, was designed to be a "vision of paradise".

Eight multicoloured paint installations that brighten up London

Acknowledging the trend, we rounded up eight examples of polychromatic paint jobs in the city, including designs by Yinka Ilori and Camille Walala.

This week, Ilori also collaborated with toy brand Lego to design the colourful Launderette of Dreams as a playspace for kids in east London.

Waste crisis a "design-made mess" says Design Museum show curator

Also in London, the Waste Age exhibition opened at the Design Museum.

The exhibition aims to show how design contributed to the rise of throwaway culture and demonstrate possible solutions developed by product, fashion and building designers.

Stadium modelled on traditional Arab head cap opens ahead of Qatar World Cup

In Qatar, the latest World Cup venue was completed ahead of the tournament, which is set to take place next year.

Designed by Qatari architect Ibrahim M Jaidah, the shape and decoration of the Al Thumama Stadium was based on a gahfiya cap.

Rough-sawn cedar clads Whidbey Dogtrot house in Washington by SHED

Popular projects this week included a house in Washington clad in rough-sawn cedar, Balenciaga's "raw" flagship store in London and Peter Pichler's angular concrete-and-glass villa in an Italian vineyard.

Our lookbook this week focused on interiors with smart and stylish storage solutions.

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.

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OMA reveals design galleries at renovated Denver Art Museum

The New York office of architecture firm OMA has designed galleries and a studio inside Gio Ponti's Denver Art Museum, which recently underwent a major redevelopment.

As part of the project OMA designed 11,500 square feet (1,068 square metres) of new and renovated galleries inside Ponti's 1971 Martin Building, as well as a studio space.

The Design Gallery at the Denver Art Museum has a curved reflective wall at its entrance

The spaces form part of a wider overhaul and extension of the campus, carried out by Machado Silvetti Architects and Fentress Architects and completed in September 2021.

The three spaces by OMA, which the firm first unveiled plans for in January 2020, include the Design Gallery, Mezzanine Gallery and Design Studio – all distinct yet interconnected.

Flexible platforms and podiums can be reconfigured for different exhibitions

"It was an exciting exercise, designing within the historic Gio Ponti building and drawing from his extensive, multi-faceted body of work," said OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu.

"Much like his design philosophy, the role of design seems to grow and diversify exponentially," he continued. "A direct consequence of design ubiquity is accessibility and literacy, and we wanted the galleries to react to these changes."

A central "piazza" is surrounded by a series of rooms and podiums

The 7,750-square-foot (720-square-metre) Design Gallery is laid out around a central "piazza" surrounded by an alternating sequence of rooms and islands.

For the opening exhibition, titled By Design: Stories and Ideas Behind Objects, the displays are formed from a variety of modular, flexible platforms that can be viewed simultaneously from different vantage points.

The first exhibit in the new Design Gallery is titled By Design: Stories and Ideas Behind Objects

Made from a range of materials, including plywood and resin, the plinths and podiums are aligned with a grid but can be rearranged for future shows.

Reflective surfaces wrap a curved wall at the entrance to the gallery, which echoes the shape of the building, and line one of the display rooms.

Meanwhile in the smaller Mezzanine Gallery, which measures 1,900 square feet (177 square metres), a series of ceiling-mounted mirrors run through the exhibit.

Aptly presenting a retrospective of work by Ponti to coincide with the reopening, the gallery features display structures, platforms and signage are intended to mimic the shifted volumes in the famed architect's work.

The Mezzanine Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition of work by the museum's original architect, Gio Ponti

In the Design Studio, visitors are encouraged to freely explore the creative processes, and engage with objects and materials left for their use.

The flexible and interactive space has hinged walls, which shift with the studio's requirements and also double as both displays and storage.

Mirrored ceiling panels run through the gallery

"The three spaces pose new ways of seeing as well as interacting with objects and materials—they present different spatial and programmatic identities," said Shigematsu, "but work collectively as a platform for shifting the discourse beyond mere consumption of design, by incorporating movement, odd perspectives, and intimacy."

OMA's work with the Denver Art Museum (DAM) follows its exhibition design for Dior: From Paris to the World, staged at the museum in 2018 before moving to the Dallas Art Museum the following year.

A Design Studio allows visitors to interact with objects and materials

"Working with the Denver Art Museum team on the architecture and design galleries and studio was a particularly meaningful way for us to continue our collaboration with the museum," said OMA associate Christy Cheng.

"Architectural and design objects are ones that people encounter every day, and we loved working with DAM to consider how to best tell the stories behind those objects so that the visitor understands design as a process."

Hinged walls in the studio allow for flexibility and double as storage

The firm's New York office also created the scenography for Manus x Machina, a showcase of fashion and technology at The Met's Costume Institute in 2016.

The photography is by James Florio.

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KU Leuven's Faculty of Architecture spotlights eight architectural projects

A project exploring women's experiences of public space during the Covid-19 pandemic and another that examines "architecture beyond the physical" is included in Dezeen's latest school show from students at KU Leuven.

Also featured is a project that looks at the sociological importance of the kitchen, and another that explores post-war parish churches in Flanders.

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KU Leuven

School: KU Leuven's Faculty of Architecture
Courses: Architecture, Interior Architecture, Urban Design and Spatial Planning and Educational Masters
Tutors: Jo Van Den Berghe, Thierry Lagrange, Sven Sterken, Charlotte Ardui, Burak Pak, Karel Deckers, Jo Liekens, Tom Callebaut, Rolf Hughes, Nel Janssens, Rachel Armstrong, Annelies de Smet, Jo Liekens, Roel De Ridder, Laurens Luyten, Bruno Notteboom, Caroline Newton, Babette Wyckaert and Bjoke Carron.

School statement:

"The Faculty of Architecture, situated in Brussels and Ghent, provides an interactive and open environment that accommodates students worldwide.

"The history of the faculty and the proximity of the professional and academic art courses of LUCA School of Arts determines its individuality.

"Most design studio teachers are in practice and enthusiastically transfer the knowledge and skills from their architectural office to students.

"The design studio landscape of the Faculty of Architecture is formed along with engagements with each specific focus: Urban Cultures, Craftsmanship, Legacy, Mediating Tactics and The Brussels Way.

"A rich series of lectures and exhibitions called Going Public deepens and accompanies each of the engagements."

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The Autonomous City by Vitor Silveira Breder Rocha

"Misconceived interpretations of the concept of autonomy have been fostering a neoliberal discourse, where labour exploitation and capital accumulation prevail.

"By developing a concept of autonomy that gathers notions of the commons, de-financialisation of housing, citizen participation, occupation and activism, and flexibility in architecture, this research tries to respond to every prerogative present in the process of neo-liberalisation.

"The aim is to create a flexible framework for its application in cities. The outcome merges temporary use with affordable mobile housing as a claim for an autonomous city agenda for the city of Brussels."

Student: Vitor Silveira Breder Rocha
Course: International Master of Architecture, studio: Alt_shift* Altering Practices for Urban Inclusion - Envisioning the Future of Temporary Housing and Inclusive Collective Spaces in Brussels
Tutors: Burak Pak and Aurelie De Smet
Email: bredervitor[at]gmail.com

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Church The Revaluation of St. Rita's Church by Quinten Malfait

"The starting point of this project is the re-valuation of post-war parish churches in the scattered built fabric of Flanders.

"The project is a poetic translation between the current social and urban conditions, along with the cultural development of this building as a sacred space and a monument, within its generic context.

"The case study, namely the iconic brutalist Saint-Rita church from Belgian architect Léon Stynen, set the stage for multiple interventions on different expanding scales.

"On a scale of the site, he designed a canopy with oversized columns, creating a new framework for this monument with an in-between atmosphere.

"Thus, the church's radiance introduces a new network and becomes sacred for Christians as well as architecture fanatics."

Student: Quinten Malfait
Course: Master of Architecture, studio: OMG! Van God Los, Faith in the periphery
Tutor: Sven Sterken
Email: quintenmalfait[at]gmail.com

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Kitchen Stories by Liese Mortreu

"This project explores the kitchen as a space from which to reconsider the impact of our daily choices and relation to our environment, through the practice of food making.

"Through the everyday, capitalism reproduces itself into the Anthropocene.  To do so she leaves behind the formal conventions of the fitted kitchen and reconfigures its meaning through a series of short stories.

"Those short stories reconstruct the kitchen in its physical, social and psychological dimension, demonstrating it as a typology that creates natural and social wealth, as it is only possible in the intimate context of a home."

Student: Liese Mortreu
Course: International Master of Architecture, studio: Wicked Home
Tutors: Rolf Hughes and Rachel Armstrong
Email: liesemortreu[at]gmail.com

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(Un)Familiar by Inez Leduc

"The (Un)Familiar project distances itself from everyday furniture.

"This is to examine its fixed image, to question its relevance, value and to assign new layers to it.

"In my design research process, I shift the function and aesthetics of the furniture to the background so that other (re)discovered qualities come into the spotlight with which I explore the boundaries of furniture.

"I substantiate the collection of furniture from thrift shops and stretch the viewer's imagination, move away from entrenched ideologies around evidentiality and stir the imagination.

"This design research process made me travel through everyday furniture that carries its own, but unknown to me, story."

Student: Inez Leduc
Course: Master of Interior architecture, studio: Performative Space and Proximity
Tutors: Jo Liekens and Roel De Ridder
Email: inezleduc1[at]hotmail.com

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The Other – The Ethics of Levinas in Public Space by Chelsey Watthy

"With this project, I researched Emmanuel Levinas, a western philosopher who criticizes the fundamental principle of Western philosophy: the 'I-perspective' as the central point.

"The central point of Levinas is 'the other'. It seemed to be a sublime challenge to introduce Levinas' thinking in interior architecture.

"The Levinas philosophy shows that the interior of the house is an important place to be open to others.

"When we can reveal the interior, we can become aware of 'the other'. The design puts forward a surrealistic cut, in which the other takes center stage by reversing the interior and exterior.

"The cut consists of relics of the other that have been upgraded. The answer to the inquiry offers the unfolding of a surrealistic cut, which is essentially an architectural contradiction of the 'I' as the main point of departure for Western philosophy and architecture in general."

Student: Chelsey Watthy
Course: Master of Interior Architecture, studio: Public Space and Vocation
Tutors: Karel Deckers and Lien Van der Jeught
Email: chelsey.watthy[at]telenet.be

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Women in the Public Sphere During and After COVID-19 by Emma Van Den Daele

"The Covid-19 pandemic does not affect everyone in the same way. Where you live and how you live affect how you experience the pandemic.

"By examining how the pandemic affects certain groups, measures can be made more effective and potential negative impacts can be minimized. This study focuses on women. From previous crises, we can say that women can be active players in the field of change.

"While they tend to experience the consequences of the crisis in an often negative way. This crisis, the corona crisis, is not gender-blind either.

"Drawing on existing literature and our own research, this master's thesis provides an overview of how the current pandemic can be an opportunity for women in the use and appropriation of public space."

Student: Emma Van Den Daele
Course: Master of urban design and spatial planning, studio: Just Transitions
Tutors: Caroline Newton and Babette Wyckaert
Email: Emma.vandendaele[at]hotmail.com

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Farmscape – Spatial Tree and Forest Configurations in the Agricultural Landscape by Marie Geldof

"In this master's thesis an answer is formulated to the following two research questions:

"How can we integrate more forest and trees in agricultural areas in an urbanized context?

"How can these alternative forms of agriculture contribute to a stronger social connection and a coherent ecological network?

"From the literature, a theoretical framework and an agroforestry catalogue of innovative farming types was distilled, that determined the rest of the research.

"Theoretical models of agroforestry visually translate into spatial concepts. This overview describes the differentiation between the different types of agroforestry, the morphological classification of the trees, the different advantages and disadvantages of the types of agroforestry and the practical rules, conditions and management for planting trees in function of crop production.

"This agroforestry catalogue is then tested on through design research.

Student: Marie Geldof
Course: Master of Urban Design and Spatial Planning
Tutors: Bruno Notteboom and Bjoke Carron
Email: marie.geldof[at]student.kuleuven.be

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Interiorities, Embeddedness and the Dwelling by Marie Porrez

"This master thesis displays a dialogue between the theme of drawing and interiority and embeddedness in relation to the 'dwelling'.

"This led to the description of three interiorities through the act of drawing: interiority of dwelling, landscape, and memory.

"It comes together in a place of withdrawal that reflects my own mental space charged by memory and embeddedness into the landscape.

"I hope to offer the beholder new perspectives on these themes. To explore the narrative space and architecture beyond the physical. Architecture as the moment where the poetic image of memory and construction emerge together."

Student: Marie Porrez
Course: Master of Architecture, studio: The Drawing and the Space
Tutor: Jo Van Den Berghe and Thierry Lagrange
Email: porrez.marie[at]gmail.com

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Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and KU Leuven. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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