"Enzo Eusebi / Nothing Studio, Kunlun Towers, Beijing", L'Arca, n°235 (2008)

The Kunlun Towers, located in the heart of Beijing, hold luxurious apartments enjoying panoramic views stretching from the diplomatic centre of the capital (landscaped in greenery) right round to the Forbidden City. Freely inspired by the Kunlun mountain range, China’s holy Mountain, the towers rise up to an overall height of 115 m and are built on one single solid four-storey base. The overall impression is of a compact mass covered with stone and cut through with glass grooves, as if to recreate a rocky wall full of crevices. The outside shell is covered with horizontal sheets of slate of varying thickness with the deep vertical glass incisions. The basement holds various exclusive shops and service facilities serving the residences and acting as a spacious public hall leading through to the private apartments. The two towers are made entirely of glass, except for two lateral strips of slate, which hold the lift shafts, cut through in turn by a dynamic blade of light for the private lifts solely for property owners, while the service lift features a blade of fixed light. The two towers are composed of 23 residential units, each set on a different level to enjoy a 360° panoramic view across the city. They are designed in three different styles: simplexes, single level apartments covering 300 square meters; duplexes, constructed over two levels covering a total area of 600 square meters; and two 900-sq-m triplex attics, each with its own terrace and outdoor swimming pool. The interiors designed by Nothing Studio and Lee Weimin Architects Office embody a very special vision of the ideal living environment, focusing on a quest for person-freidnely simplicity and well-being, all in the name of top quality design and Italian style. The resulting space is stylistically rigorous and coherent, featuring clever use of color and light, a special and exclusive place where all the architecturel and furnishing features combine to create the setting and its overall design. A special trait of these luxury apartments is the fact they have glass walls on all fronts, each room enjoys a wonderful view towards the city and they are all lit in their own special way. Everything is controlled by domestics and special energy-saving devices. High quality materials have, of course, been used: marble, slate, quality wards, carbon fibre and Corian.