The house of the future is dug into a cork wall

Experimentation on future ways of living in contemporary cities is a recurring theme and practice in architectural research. In a urban context such as Beijing, where the home is increasingly becoming a standard spatial product, the New Everbright Center invited four teams of designers to design an ideal living space on the 28th floor of the ArtPark9 Tower.

 The guest room designed by Archstudio – called Hillside Dwelling – features a strip of floor that is gently raised to the ceiling to create an additional floor in the room: a hill covered with the soft, warm texture of cork, from which to look out over the city.

Different areas have been created within the room, both considering man living behaviour and anthropometry. The entrance and the bathroom are dug like caves under the hill, the bed and the bathtub are niches furrowed on the surface of the slope – a privileged point from which to enjoy the view of Peking – whereas the slope becomes the living space.
The wardrobes are custom-designed, while the piano bar and a projection screen are designed to disappear when not used.


The tridimensional room takes on a character of uniqueness and suggests a more fluid and new way of living under the guise of a natural landscape, in line with our time.