Ho Chi Minh-based architecture studio AD9 have added to their impressive portfolio of light-filled beacons in Vietnam with the Komorebi tourist homestay in the city of Dalat.
The Komorebi homestay was a renovation of an old house located on a hill overlooking a chaotic thoroughfare in the center of Dalat city.
The project ambition was to create a stopover point for tourists as they move through Vietnam.
AD9 wanted the homestay to meet practical needs of the guests’ daily activities, the movement of luggage, while also ensuring a respite from the bustle of the city.
The homestay prioritises collective resting areas and uses minimalist furniture to create a serene, light-filled atmosphere suited for a temporary stay.
The shapes and color theme were also chosen based on their peaceful properties. The team used biophilic design elements to ensure that guests form a “harmonious bond” with the space, a careful balance between being within the city as well as overlooking it.
The studio was inspired by the Japanese word Komorebi, that refers to the interplay between light and leaves that occurs when sunlight shines through trees.
They used doors and wood bars to re-create this imagery of sunlight shining through tree leaves.
“During the designing phase of this project, we made Komorebi the main subject and, from there, the construction and the surrounding context are connected naturally,” says the AD9 team.
“The transformation of lights and shadows throughout the day creates an interplay on the eyes and emotions that is the focus of the project’s construction,” says AD9.
Light is also used as the central character in Chenchow Little’s sculptural Glebe House. The studio inserted arched windows into the Sydney family home to frame and edit views of the surrounding trees.
Photography by Quang Tran.