The Retreat

隱謐之所

Located on Zhongxiao East Road in downtown Taipei, a fast-paced city, ‘The Retreat’ is a secluded sanctuary from the urban hustle and bustle. However, for designer Tang Chung-Han, ‘seclusion’ is not about escape, but rather delving into one’s heart to examine, analyze, and understand oneself to find out what one really desires.

This project designed for two involves public spaces, such as the living room, dining room, study and more, that are full of light and provide unobstructed views. Without fixed moving lines, the spaces combine with the L-shaped, right-angled horizontal floor-to-ceiling windows to visually create a flowing plane, where the living room surrounding the coffee table forms an island, and the dining room and kitchen are directly connected – an approach that prompts one to focus on the overall interior upon entry. The huge yet unbalanced miniature light above the dining room is a round and abstract surreal piece of art made from mineral cement, an artistic metaphor of hitting a stone with an egg, with the fallen egg, after the impact, getting stuck as a chandelier that lends a playful tone.

On both sides of the sleek bookcases in the open study, there are hidden sliding doors that connect the owner’s private area. Every space is an island, and the moving line is not a simple circle, but a random one surrounding the islands. When the sliding door is opened, life here is a leisurely stroll experience; when the sliding door is closed, the private area becomes a spacious suite, with the bathroom overlooking the city and bathed in the rising sun, making the bedroom bright and comfortable. Stepping into the residence, the occupant is greeted by a metal chain curtain that seemingly flows in an area of relaxation and leisure. Then, he or she retreats to the dining room where the long table, made of charred, solid word from West Africa, and the chairs with V-shaped legs, respond to the pure and natural textures of the microcement interior.

The apt use of micro-cement is the result of a recent attempt by Design Apartment to minimize its use of materials. Tang Chung-Han has applied to the residence the theory of ‘volume, surface and plane’, a concept that French architect Le Corbusier calls architects’ attention to in his book Toward an Architecture. Real and reliable microcement applied to existing ‘surfaces’ enables the occupant or viewer to faithfully convey their emotions by turning the spaces into the background against which the occupant constructs his or her core self through furniture, utensils, art collections and daily conversations. As such, the emotional connections between the spaces and the occupant are established, lending soul and a homey atmosphere to the residence.

「隱謐之所」位於台北市忠孝東路，最是都會鬧市的核心地段，在快節奏的城市裡，空間展露一份出離塵世的隱匿，然設計師唐忠漢所期許的「隱」並非是脫離現實生活的逃避，而是回到自我，審視、分析、理解自我所需而更進一步深切的追求，何謂專屬自己的生活狀態。

兩人生活的空間住所，純然釋放了公領域的客廳、餐廳、書房等地的光線與景觀，無絕對值的動線，隨L型直角的橫向落地窗，形成一紙流動的平面，客廳圍繞茶几自成一座獨立島嶼，餐廳與廚房簡單而直接的連結，將走入玄關後的焦點自然而然地放眼整體室內。在餐廳上方，那一座偌大而失衡的微型光源，以礦物水泥揉化造型圓潤而抽象的超現實藝術，仿若以卵擊石的意境，在碰撞之間，隨著直落而下的吊燈而恆定，饒富生趣。

而開放書房圓滑的書櫃兩旁，隱藏著拉門銜接主人私場域，每處機能皆是一座小島，在空間中環繞動線，已非僅是回字形單純的循環，而是隨機繞島般穿梭而交錯的流線。敞開拉門時，住所是一場隨性的悠遊；關起拉門，私領域是一座自在寬敞的套房，俯瞰市景的衛浴空間亦迎來朝陽，使臥房敞亮而舒適。當回家的節奏始於一扇金屬鏈簾，流動在放鬆、休閒的領域之中，最終回到餐廳的大長桌，來自西非的實木經炭燒處理，原生樸實的黑色軌跡搭配V腳椅，輝映著微水泥的純粹與自然。

微水泥運用得淋漓，是近期近境制作試圖收斂材料所呈的結果。唐忠漢藉由法國建築師柯比意在《邁向建築》一書中，所提醒建築師們需注意「量體、表面、平面」之理論，套用於此一住所中。「表面」以真實、可靠的微水泥材料，忠實地傳遞情緒予居住者抑或觀者，使空間化為生活背景，居住者透過家具、器皿、藝術收藏以及日常對話建構起自我的核心，如此一來，即構成空間與人與生活的情感連結，住所因而才有所靈魂，貼近自我。