The Subterranean Guild

Set within a damp basement in Taipei’s Beitou district, this project repositions constraint as framework. This once submerged, humid, and structurally limited site offered conventional advantages. Instead of overlaying new systems, the design reorients the space around material intelligence and historical continuity, drawing its core references from the spatial logic and aesthetic restraint of the historical Han dynasty.
The palette is subdued, defined by mineral tones, hand-applied textures, and atmospheric softness. Faux finishing, a technique grounded in layered craftsmanship, is employed throughout not as surface decoration, but as a constructive method. Stone, bronze, and timber finishes are reinterpreted through pigment and layering, forming a continuous envelope that feels both contemporary and grounded in historical material culture.
A shallow ecological pool anchors the layout. Originally introduced as a solution to persistent water ingress, it now sets to regulating humidity, defining circulation, and bringing a calibrated softness to the center of the plan. The water reflects filtered light across plastered walls and matte-finished surfaces, offering quiet variation across the day. Its presence recalls the ritual function of water in traditional courtyard houses, where atmosphere and climate were shaped through passive means.
Spatial transitions are sequenced with clarity. Thresholds are defined but not overstated. A translucent partition diffuses light between zones, creating a layered interior depth. Circulation moves without friction, and each function sits within its own clearly defined rhythm. Nothing appears improvised, yet the overall impression remains flexible, informal, and tactile.
Rather than referencing history through symbols, the project absorbs cultural knowledge into form and atmosphere. It is not reconstruction but realignment. The result is a guild-like interior where surface and structure are unified, and where heritage is not performed, but quietly and precisely embedded, with lasting coherence.