- Project: Box of Light
- Architect: CUN DESIGN
- Location: China, Beijing
- Year: 2023
- Area: 1000 m2
In Beijing’s Heguangchenyue, CUN DESIGN has completed the Box of Light, a 1,000 m² villa that transforms light into the very essence of architecture. Completed in 2023, the project is the first in the studio’s experimental “box series”—residential works that redefine the meaning of home by blending everyday functions with aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual dimensions.
Light as Protagonist
The villa is conceived as an exploration of light as an architectural material. Designer Cui Shu introduces, controls, and reshapes light to define each space:
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Double-height foyers and L-shaped floor-to-ceiling glazing expand visual horizons.
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Carefully placed openings choreograph light like brushstrokes, layering shade, glare, and glow.
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Spaces become dynamic canvases, where daily life unfolds like a Chinese landscape painting.
This approach reflects a critique of mass-produced housing in China and positions Box of Light as a human-centered and aesthetic counterpoint.
Spatial Logic: Public Above, Private Below
The villa spans five levels, divided into two distinct realms:
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Above ground (1st–3rd floors): Family living, dining, and bedrooms.
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Below ground (2 levels): A sanctuary for introspection, leisure, and spiritual retreat.
This duality turns the home into a layered journey—from vibrant domesticity above to contemplative refuge below.
Living Levels: Transparency and Privacy
On the upper floors, openness and connection with the outdoors dominate.
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The living and dining areas are restrained in design, letting the courtyard’s greenery and sunlight take center stage.
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Fragmented walkways create privacy while maintaining subtle connections between rooms.
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Corridors act as garden-like passages, turning transitions into poetic journeys.
The master suite on the top floor ensures privacy while still embracing filtered light and controlled views, balancing intimacy with openness.
Underground Sanctuary: Boxes of Contemplation
Descending into the subterranean levels reveals a spiritual haven. Here, CUN DESIGN crafted a composition of interwoven boxes—spaces for meditation, leisure, and reflection.
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High atriums and strip windows diffuse subtle shafts of light, recalling the sacred ambience of churches.
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Corridors glow with inclined light, transforming them into temporal experiences.
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The underground becomes a “soulful architecture”, where shadow, silence, and introspection dominate.
Unique Programs: From Bar to Teahouse
The underground spaces include unexpected programmatic interventions:
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A futuristic bar with curved forms, resembling a spacecraft, offers a surreal escape.
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A teahouse, inspired by In Praise of Shadows, filters faint light through slits, combining goldfish, greenery, and soft textures to create a dreamlike atmosphere.
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Courtyard light wells cast dappled tree shadows on walls, ensuring underground spaces remain connected to nature.
These elements transform daily rituals—drinking tea, hosting friends, or relaxing—into aesthetic and contemplative experiences.
Design Philosophy: The Garden as Inspiration
Cui Shu cites the tradition of the Chinese garden as inspiration, echoing Tong Jun’s reflections in “Lun Yuan”:
“Chinese gardens are realms of imagination… their universe encapsulates a dreamlike essence.”
Just as traditional gardens construct sequences of views and moods, Box of Light uses corridors, openings, and courtyards to choreograph a poetic rhythm of discovery. Every step offers a new vignette, every turn reframes light and shadow.
Why This Project Matters
The Box of Light by CUN DESIGN reasserts the role of housing as more than a commodity—it becomes a theatrical and spiritual stage for life. By treating light as material, shadow as narrative, and daily routines as art, the project establishes a new model for contemporary Chinese villas.
This residence demonstrates how ancient cultural wisdom and modern design techniques can merge into a profound architectural statement that balances privacy, beauty, and inner peace.
