Wuto-space | Wutopia Lab

A two-bedroom, one-living room apartment in the bustling heart of "Magic City" transforms into an immersive art installation.

September 30, 2019

When he woke up in the morning, the air was somewhat damp. He felt a sense of melancholy and loss. Numerous fragments of memories rushed into his mind, but he couldn't identify them all.

Wutopia Lab converted a vacant two-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom apartment in Shanghai's Jing'an District into an experimental space called Wuto-space, which officially opened on February 16, 2024.

Disobey

The design process began in 2021, but I hadn't decided on the final concept at that time. However, I knew I wanted to break away from the typical apartment layout. Over the past 30 years of rapid real estate development in China, people have been placed into similar housing models. I wanted to explore different possibilities.

Fear

During Shanghai's lockdown in 2022, I had ample time to contemplate this design. Emotions can drive the design process, and in those two months of confinement, I had plenty of time and capacity to think about fear—a fear of the unpredictable future. Wuto-space can be a place to observe, release, understand, confront, or accept fear. 

December 28, 2018

The boundless, and traceless darkness with no beginning and seemingly no end. He was unaware of himself, and panic began to set in, but he understood that it was a futile sadness, one that even swallowed fleeting glimmers of light, rendering them meaningless.

Side A and B

I divided the apartment along the longitudinal wall into two sides: A and B. Side A includes the living and dining rooms along with the south balcony, the kitchen, and the north balcony. Side B consists of the two bedrooms and the bathroom.

Side A

The Ideal Life

Behind the ubiquitous security door in the apartment, I installed a second silver door. Hidden behind the signage of Wuto-space lies Side A, representing the ideal living space.

The micro-cement living and dining room serves as an art gallery. At the center sits a large table made from recycled ocean plastic. Due to the soft nature of the plastic, the tabletop gently undulates, resembling waves of the sea within the room.

The columned portico in the room draws inspiration from the film "Macbeth." It replaces the common built-in furniture and TV walls found in apartments, serving as an indoor architectural feature. Behind the portico, perforated aluminum painting in Klein Blue replace the television. These panels serve as a tribute to my youthful dreams, commemorating my unsuccessful bid for the Shanghai Center.

I designed a wooden box embedded in the balcony, encompassing storage, fresh air vents, a direct drinking water device, bonsai plants, and air outlets, forming the climate boundary of the apartment. As the curtains rise slowly, the cityscape unfolds like a scroll before my eyes, becoming part of the apartment's decoration. 

At the other end of the pipeline extending along the sides of the balcony are custom-made black cabinets inset with air vents, a refrigerator, a wine cabinet, and a coffee machine. Behind these cabinets lies a fully-equipped and meticulously designed kitchen. On the east side of the kitchen, the north balcony is designed as a smoking area for one person. The leftover marine recycled plastic granules shimmer within the micro-cement, embellishing the balcony floor. The seating panel is crafted from Golden Nanmu (Wood), a gift from a friend. It was too long, so I cut off the excess and placed it on the south balcony as a bonsai. Between the smoking area and the living room, there is a movable blue glass partition, ensuring that the two areas are not completely separated.

I used arched ceilings to conceal the pipelines on both sides of the living room. The axial sense created by the black light strips below the midpoint of the arches is an architectural compulsion that architects cannot escape. They simultaneously reinforce the sacredness of the living room as an art gallery. I envisioned a scene where someone could lie under the gray dome, on the blue long table, swaying like a swing on earth, which is also a tribute to life.

This is the imaginable ideal life, an architect's minimalist creation. With skillful training in dream home transformation, various functions are carefully curated within the treasure chest-like space. The subtly textured wooden boxes provide an acceptable sense of Zen. It seems that we can resist fear in this way.

He distrusts his own memory, often using dreams to embellish and rewrite his reality, thus simultaneously possessing two lives.

Pause

Alongside the columned portico, behind a hidden door and up two steps, there lies a silver pause. You'll notice three hidden doors. You're like Theseus at the crossroads, somewhat bewildered. Yet, you'll be drawn to a hole emitting yellow light to your right, unable to resist peeking inside.

Side B

Prisoner

Opening the door beside the hole, light pours in as if in a torrential downpour. The deliberate gentleness and slowness from before are washed away entirely. This room, inspired by the master bedroom in "The French Dispatch," contains only a sofa, standing still. Whether sitting, standing, or lying flat, it creates an illusion of profound contemplation. The purple hues resembling hail on the walls symbolize desires cascading down, while the city outside the arched window appears crystalline and surreal.

Behind the sofa is a cabinet with a large glass display case. Inside the cabinet, the yellow space symbolizes materialism. On the ground inside the cabinet, there is an installation called "Abyss." You look at it, and it looks back at you. The picture frames on the walls on either side are empty; in reality, we who are deeply entrenched in materialism are the content, a kind of decoration. The reason I installed a piece of glass is that during the lockdown, a RAP song called "Fish Tank" by a Shanghai middle school student deeply moved me. This Narnia-like cabinet is essentially a fish tank of materialism. You and I are merely prisoners in it, appearing glamorous.

Captive

Behind the second door is a white bathroom, doubling as a library that houses collections of poetry. In real life, bathrooms often unexpectedly become our sanctuary, where even the dirtiest places become sanctified. A white curtain rises gently to the left of the toilet, revealing a shower room that serves as a black cave. I designed a wrap-around shower head. The illusion of life is that washing our bodies clean can wash away shame and guilt. But you and I are both prisoners of the shame hidden deep within. This pink rope proves that we are our own captives. I once heard someone say that being tightly bound can bring an unprecedented sense of freedom. I have my doubts.

Prey

Behind the final door lies a roaring fireplace, enveloped in leather and mirrors. It resembles a KTV room. Everyone begins to relax, finding their own way to unwind, whether sitting or lying down. At this moment, I open the hidden windows, and the red convex windows reveal their fanged jaws, like a gaping maw, to those who have let their guard down. What do we fear? The unpredictable danger. The truth of life lies in the revelation that fate is unpredictable, and danger always comes when least expected.

August 4, 2015

The weary sunlight lay between them, weary themselves, turning time into shades of brown. Then they shared the same hollow feeling. They both made one feel alone in this room, helpless and panicked in weariness.

Once everyone gets accustomed, they will handle it calmly. The greatest excitement in life comes from enjoying the adrenaline rush of controlled fear. Artist SHI Yong told me, "This is not the end; this is just the beginning." Each person can embark on different depths of creativity, enriching the text. I believe that breaking the stereotype of a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment is an attempt to prove that architecture can awaken us from our numbness. The first step is acknowledging my fears—fear of death, poverty, aging, loss of thought, and consciousness. I use Wuto-space to understand and confront these fears, ultimately transforming it into living proof of my contemplation, to create more thoughts.

November 29, 2014

She said, "I thought memories, once burned, wouldn't easily turn to ashes... But when the wind scatters... they truly become ashes..." He remained silent for a moment before saying, "Ashes can be turned into diamonds."

Chief Architect: YU Ting

Project Architect: KUANG Zhou

Construction Drawing: Zoom Architecture

Construction Design Team: WANG Liyang, LU Tao

Lighting Consultant: Chloe ZHANG, WEI Shiyu

Brand Consultant: YE Chun

Construction Firm: Jiapinzhuangshi

Construction Team: WANG Liyang (Construction Director), JIANG Qiqing (Project Manager), WANG Weiwei, WANG Huanhuan, WANG Shijie

Photography: LIU Guowei