Bio-inspired interiors!

Compiled by Pari Syal

Photography: courtesy the architect

Read Time: 2 mins 

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Ar. Alberto Apostoli designs a metaphoric interior for FAAS - Medical Spa that focuses on the use of stem cells in anti-aging treatment at China’s city-prefecture Lijiang – a UNESCO World Heritage site…  

Located in the Yunnan province, the FAAS flagship is housed in a historic shell known for its traditional local architectural style. As a direct metaphor to its focus, the well-preserved building shell is anointed with an avant-garde interior design; creating a strong contrast and driving home the whole exercise.

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Using the transforming element of the stem cell as a thematic, organic elements are filtered into the interior, where they lose their definition becoming a grid of material and luminous connections. Such dualism in a sort of space-time abstraction, in which the setting and the furniture lose their connotation of medical and aseptic spaces; and invaded by these new forms, become experiential.

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The hinge of the project is the fusion between medical function and spa function, creating a comfortable setting for the guest, using textures and transparencies that give movement to straight lines. Stained glass at the entrance makes way for a grid element that lends character to the space and camouflages load-bearing columns and a minimal flight of stairs. 

Light cuts across the space juxtaposed with the cellular network as the spaces appear to be nearly dematerialised and defined by new geometries, whereby the distinction between walls, floors, and ceiling is dissolved. Focusing on the fading of spaces and on unhinged geometry, the white painted surfaces are altered with wood inserts and glass that presents material textures, adding vitality to the space.

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On the upper level, the floor remains neutral without thread lights, while the walls and ceiling keep pace with the game of dematerialisation, alternating the cut of lights to dark lines. 

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Architecturally, the building is extremely well-defined as a series of separate volumes, connected through shelters and terraces and superficially marked by partially windowed and covered wooden modules, typical of the traditional buildings of the area. The existence of different volumes leads to an automatic space division according to the functionalities: reception/administration, laboratory of research, spaces reserved for staff and ambulatories on the ground floor, treatment cabins on the first floor… Natural elements such as dry gardens and water fountains create an aura of tranquillity as glazed partitions create a seamless inside-outside connect.  

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As Ar. Alberto Apostoli informs, “We are talking about a combination matured from the Taoist culture and from the desire to repeat the equilibrium between Yin and Yang which, in China, appears even more consolidated today.”