Raw House
How does the way we work each day shape what we seek when we return home? After long hours within a particular rhythm of work, the body begins to seek another form of rest, and the idea of home slowly comes into focus. This awareness often becomes clear only through a specific place. In Raw House, a couple’s search for belonging finds a quiet answer. Rather than reflecting the polished, fast-paced image often associated with e-commerce, the residence turns toward warmth and calm. A warm, soil-toned palette draws the interior close to the earth, offering those immersed in streams of information a place to settle.
Raw House is the final note Daniel Hu Interiors left as the residence took shape. Its modesty is not a staged austerity. It recalls Liu Yuxi’s Tang dynasty prose-poem Loushi Ming, rendered here as Ode to My Humble Dwelling, and the line, “This is a humble dwelling; only my virtue lends it fragrance.” For the owners, belonging is found not in the accumulation of objects, but in the fullness of the inner world. Drawn to the studio’s restrained openness and sense of freedom, they chose to translate this awareness of living into the form of a home. At first glance, the interior appears plain, but it is not empty. It has been pared back with intention, leaving only what daily life truly needs. Through this restraint, the humble room begins to glow.
For Daniel Hu, the ceiling, floor, and walls form another layer of skin. To inhabit a space is to be held within an architectural body. He applies an earth-toned paint finish across the interior, evoking the tactile presence of earthen walls while tempering the daylight that enters through the windows. Above the tatami platform, matte stainless-steel cabinet fronts quiet the visual field, reducing overt cues so the residents can remain attentive to the present and to the elements around them. Beneath the cabinetry, a linear fireplace is concealed behind a cementitious panel, bringing gentle warmth and contemplative stillness into the urban home.
Because both homeowners work from home for long periods, Hu understood how easily work and life can merge into one continuous field once the ritual of leaving for the office disappears. He also observed that a contemporary household does not need to gather at every moment. When a home gives each person a place to rest independently or pursue a personal interest, intimacy can find a more comfortable distance. The interior therefore moves away from the conventional living room layout. A long wooden table anchors daily life at the heart of the home. On either side, multi-use resting spaces allow the residents to step away from work and change pace with ease. In the afternoon, the left-hand daybed platform, set beneath a thatched canopy with woven rush matting underfoot, becomes a quiet place for tea and reading. In the evening, the right-hand side becomes a multifunctional media room. Two sets of sliding partitions arranged along perpendicular axes allow the room to accommodate audiovisual use now while retaining the flexibility to become a child’s bedroom in the future. This movement between activity and quiet reflects the owners’ wish for an adaptive way of living. It also lets the couple remain connected under one roof while preserving a balance of closeness, independence, and ease.
