The 2019 Inside World Festival of Interiors recently took place in Amsterdam alongside the World Architecture Festival. During the annual event, the JCA Living Lab, a remarkable renovated home in Taipei, Taiwan, was named the World Interior of the Year.
The project, by J.C. Architecture, transforms a building that was originally constructed over 90 years ago, during a period that Taiwan was under Japanese rule, into a modern house suitable for a family.
The renovation was handled very tastefully. Aging woodwork exists alongside modern additions like a circular light fixture and a skylight designed to create a "pathway of light" throughout the house. Additionally, interior living space was increased by extending the home, creating a new living room and kitchen, as well as a flexible room for group gatherings.
"The house is unusually in tune with the differing and sometimes contradictory needs of a young family," says WAF's judges. "Every space can be negotiated and adapted, encouraging the house to be an incubator for positive difference in the family unit.
"Local craftspeople were drafted in when needed and recycled elements were mixed freely with new. Ladders to the roof level encourage ongoing hide and seek. Internal space leaks into a garden, itself an outdoor room, whilst light penetrates in unexpected ways and occasional views of the sky offset the otherwise congested urban setting."
