Located east of Beijing, right next to the sixth ring road of the city, Songzhuang is the most important artist village in China, and in the last years, with the boom of the art market there, it is undergoing a dramatic population growth. Located by a pond in a plot that was previously taken up by an outdoor storage lot, the complex comprises twenty residential units to address the increasing demand for living and working spaces for the artists.

This double program of workshop and housing defines two volumes per unit, of six and three meters in height respectively, with different geometries: a simple rectangular prism for the workshop and a complex volume – with bedroom, kitchen and bathroom – for the dwelling, both connected on the same level or at different levels through a staircase. The twenty units are seen as stacked containers in the old industrial warehouse, an image that evokes the past use of the plot. This configuration creates a series of interstitial spaces, like blank canvases, which the artists can use. The dialogue between solids and voids, lights and shadows, is a catalyzer that allows artists and visitors to explore and experience the exterior communal space.