March 2019 The Art Issue

Our selection of the best stories with a focus on the crossover between

art and design

A sensual home by ipli Architects reimagines the joy of tropical living

Yip Yuen Hong is a maverick. In his persistent study of tropical building, the Singaporean architect, who founded ipli Architects with his wife Lee Ee Lin, would have none of the Balinese pastiche that is often crudely appropriated; he also eschews high-tech sustainability camouflaged in contradictory glasshouses. Instead, his oeuvre comprises genuine experiments that take on unpredictable but clear and singular forms. There have been houses wrapped in brass, concrete monoliths, permutations of dwellings stretched beyond the shapes of traditional housing. Providing shade, breeze and protected outdoor spaces, all of these projects promote passive living with nature.

A recently completed project, The House Above 44 Kasai Road, continues this investigation. The formerly semi-detached property was split from its neighbour to become a stand-alone form. The parti is a long, two-storey, rectangular block raised on columns above a site that dips down one storey at the rear. Terraces are carved from the slope, anchored by a pool at the base. Tall, lush trees mingle with smaller species to mitigate the scale of the lofty space, which is as dramatic as it is intimate.

‘We’ve always tried to address the question “What is the joy of living in the tropics?” Looking at historical dwellings, such as plantation and kampong houses, we find this joy in open spaces like verandas, patios and pavilions that are in touch with the landscape,’ says Tay Yew, an associate at ipli.

The airy, communal ground levels of kampong houses provided the precedent. It ’s apt, considering that the plot is much smaller than the firm’s previous projects, where many covered, outdoor pockets could be introduced. ‘We had to think of another way to create these types of spaces. By elevating the house we’ve created an open ground plane that’s sheltered by the house above. It’s a usable place where occupants can work, cook, relax and socialise,’ Tay explains.

There are further references to vernacular housing: the exterior is finished in textured concrete, and features a panelled profile and the steady rhythm of timber louvre windows. Within, curves unravel and juxtapose with straight lines, as does raw, board-marked concrete against smooth marble. The pièce de résistance is a sculptural skylight-lit staircase curling up three storeys.

‘Together with the landscaping, these gestures give a sort of modernist, tropical sensuality — much like the works of Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Lina Bo Bardi. The curvilinear surfaces feel almost organic, as if they’re growing out of the ground,’ says Tay.

An exciting foil is thus created for the owners’ well-curated collection of modern furniture and art. Yang Yeo and his wife Ching Ian work in advertising and media respectively, and they have filled the inspiring architecture with an equally engaging and tasteful mise en scène. ‘I appreciate design through reduction rather than decoration,’ Yeo comments, and he perfectly describes the architects’ ethos, too. The House Above 44 Kasai Road is testament to this appreciation, where both client and architect make the most of tropical living with brevity of strokes.