This chapter leads us deeper into the Chinese house to enter the bedroom and bathroom—traditionally, of course, the most private of rooms. They are significant spaces, not only from the point of view of functionality—to sleep and to bathe—but in the way they affect emotional well-being. We spend about a third of our lives in privacy here. Other than the intimacy that they represent, the opportunity to suit personality and lifestyle is a principal idea running through them. In this sense, the bedroom is the one room in the house that can express a sense of luxury and elegance among the burgeoning Chinese middle class with the means to indulge. And with bathrooms becoming more and more an extension of the bedroom, they too tend to be designed in the direction of a luxurious and comforting space.
As intensely private spaces, the range of design expression is expectedly large, and the gamut of styles on these pages runs from unashamed luxury to sparse minimalism. We can see here deliberate opulence, with expensive, pampering textures and surfaces, using either modern interpretations of tradition or full restorations of the traditional that make imaginative use of that archetype of Chinese furniture, the canopy bed, that can function as a room within a room. By contrast, there are designs that aim to create comfort and warmth by evoking a more natural aesthetic with Zen-like simplicity. Natural materials, including plainly finished wood and textured stone, offer one route, while another approach bases itself on the calm coolness of white, which allows extra freedom and flexibility for spatial layout. An all-white setting, which typically and naturally extends to the bed linen, draws attention to elements that in different, more complex designs might pass unnoticed. Modernism extends to the careful management of space and to double use. Loft and mezzanine bedrooms have become a popular choice for small city apartments where owners want to get maximum value and comfort within imposed limits.
A penthouse bedroom in Shanghai, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who has worked extensively in China. It features a slatted wooden wall and a wooden plinth for the bed, and is separated from the bathroom by a glass wall.