Project Architect
Alexander Moh Moh Yan Kit
SURV Architectural Office
"Interpretation of Time and Space, Definition of the Present. - Alex on YMS by onefifteen Behind the design
From 1950-78, the U.S. government sent a large number of military and technical personnel to Taiwan to support Taiwan's development, and built a large number of U.S. military dormitories in Yangmingshan, Shilin, Nangang, and Zuoying in Kaohsiung. A large number of the residences were American-style wooden or concrete bungalows, equipped with courtyards, garages, fireplaces, and other facilities, which gave American military officers far away from home a sense of "home". The post-World War II era of architecture and design in the 1950s and 1960s was characterized by a spirit of optimism and innovation - an emphasis on simplicity, functionality, spaciousness, natural materials, and transparency and connection between the outside and the inside - collectively known as Mid-Century Modern (MCM). This became the architectural style that the U.S. military exported to the world.
When Alex first stepped into the H-2 area of the U.S. Army dormitory in Yangmingshan, he was struck by the area's modern, mid-century atmosphere. He immediately suggested to the team, "This place is great, we should take all five houses [in the same neighborhood]. In just one weekend, the team decided to sign a contract to embark on a special journey back in time to connect with contemporary life.
"Once the positioning is right and the direction and concept are established, all the details and contents will follow naturally. I didn't intentionally "design" the case, but rather guided it to develop into what it needed to be. The special background of the site naturally prompted me to awaken the MCM." Speaking of YMS by onefifteen's historic building reuse project, Alex, the design director, is relaxed, but clearly reveals the core of his design. Behind this calmness comes his deep understanding of history and his precise grasp of time and space.
Reinterpreting history to create an immersive experience
"Yangmingshan is not too far away for Taipei residents, but it still takes a little effort to get up there. If this place has only one function, it won't be able to attract people to come here. Before designing, I was more concerned about: what kind of experience can this place provide? What is the significance of this space to the people?
Alex's idea is to break down, amplify and extend the basic functions of a house - eating, drinking, playing, enjoying and living:
- To welcome visitors, the entrance foyer of the residence is transformed into Gallery 4, which can be used as an exhibition and communication space.Ā
- A residential guest restaurant for dining and socializing, presented as Restaurant 12, where people connect with food.Ā
- The original residential kitchen for preparing meals and cooking has been transformed into a multi-functional LAB 10 space, enriching and innovating the diversity of food and drink.Ā
- The residential bathroom is a new area for bathing, extending into a quiet SPA 6 experience for total relaxation.Ā
- The most intimate of residential bedrooms is recreated as a complete home, making it a quiet Dwell 8 accommodation in Yangmingshan.
The five buildings are housed in a large garden that intertwines culture, life and leisure activities. By combining a modern design vocabulary with contemporary lifestyles, YMS not only redefines the land, but also shapes a new immersive experience for all five senses.
"A lot of big hotels have a lot of facilities, but the atmosphere is often too one-dimensional. I wanted YMS to provide a more layered experience that would make people want to come back after one visit," said Alex. So Alex transformed the five buildings into a 'living garden', where each house has its own function but complements the other.
MCM is not vintage, it is a spiritual vocabulary that responds to contemporary life.
"The current society is full of chaos and anxiety. MCM was born out of the optimism of the post-war era. I want to bring this spirit to YMS," Alex emphasizes, "The point of interpreting MCM is not to revive it, but to draw on its attitude towards life, especially its 'hope and passion for life, and optimism for the future', which is exactly what today's society needs.
"Rather than relying on ostentatious luxury and expensive materials, a sense of nature, ease, comfort, and quality is the only design that is truly relevant to modern life." Therefore, in the design of YMS, Alex has preserved the original architectural framework of the U.S. military dormitory, but has greatly enhanced the sense of permeability:
- Expanding windows to floor-to-ceiling scale increases the sense of connection between the interior and the exteriorĀ
- Reinventing MCM's iconic sunken living room design to create a rich spatial hierarchy.Ā
- Natural materials that continue the MCM symbol, such as stone masonry, millstone floors, and wood furniture.Ā
- Invited Taiyuan Landscape Wu Shuyuan to utilize native plants of Yangmingshan to create grasslands and gardens.Ā
- Together with Jacky, the director of MCM LIVING, we decorated the soft furnishings with classic furniture such as Herman Miller, Knoll, Vitra, etc. and incorporated contemporary art installations to create a nostalgic yet innovative atmosphere.
These simple, open and functional design phrases run throughout the park, and the lines, compositions and bold, rich color palette give the park a look into the future from the past. This is not an obsession with the past, but a rare contemporary language that creates a YMS by onefifteen that is both lively and restrained, bright and classic.
Alex's focus is not only on the restoration of the building, but also on how to integrate the space with the modern lifestyle and tie it together with the MCM vocabulary - YMS, the birth of YMS.
Design is an extension of the field, not an accumulation of styles.
Alex compares himself to a "tailor" rather than a style-driven architect. He believes that every project has its own story and personality, and that the core of design is to distill the characteristics of the place, rather than imposing a personal style.
"YMS by onefifteen is a product created in the context of an era, blending the traces of history with the needs of today. This is not a deliberate design, but a result of understanding the base. It reflects not the past, but the present."
YMS by onefifteen is a time and space vessel that inspires contemporary living.
Project Architect
Alexander Moh Moh Yan Kit
SURV Architectural Office
"Interpretation of Time and Space, Definition of the Present. - Alex on YMS by onefifteen Behind the design
From 1950-78, the U.S. government sent a large number of military and technical personnel to Taiwan to support Taiwan's development, and built a large number of U.S. military dormitories in Yangmingshan, Shilin, Nangang, and Zuoying in Kaohsiung. A large number of the residences were American-style wooden or concrete bungalows, equipped with courtyards, garages, fireplaces, and other facilities, which gave American military officers far away from home a sense of "home". The post-World War II era of architecture and design in the 1950s and 1960s was characterized by a spirit of optimism and innovation - an emphasis on simplicity, functionality, spaciousness, natural materials, and transparency and connection between the outside and the inside - collectively known as Mid-Century Modern (MCM). This became the architectural style that the U.S. military exported to the world.
When Alex first stepped into the H-2 area of the U.S. Army dormitory in Yangmingshan, he was struck by the area's modern, mid-century atmosphere. He immediately suggested to the team, "This place is great, we should take all five houses [in the same neighborhood]. In just one weekend, the team decided to sign a contract to embark on a special journey back in time to connect with contemporary life.
"Once the positioning is right and the direction and concept are established, all the details and contents will follow naturally. I didn't intentionally "design" the case, but rather guided it to develop into what it needed to be. The special background of the site naturally prompted me to awaken the MCM." Speaking of YMS by onefifteen's historic building reuse project, Alex, the design director, is relaxed, but clearly reveals the core of his design. Behind this calmness comes his deep understanding of history and his precise grasp of time and space.
Reinterpreting history to create an immersive experience
"Yangmingshan is not too far away for Taipei residents, but it still takes a little effort to get up there. If this place has only one function, it won't be able to attract people to come here. Before designing, I was more concerned about: what kind of experience can this place provide? What is the significance of this space to the people?
Alex's idea is to break down, amplify and extend the basic functions of a house - eating, drinking, playing, enjoying and living:
- To welcome visitors, the entrance foyer of the residence is transformed into Gallery 4, which can be used as an exhibition and communication space.Ā
- A residential guest restaurant for dining and socializing, presented as Restaurant 12, where people connect with food.Ā
- The original residential kitchen for preparing meals and cooking has been transformed into a multi-functional LAB 10 space, enriching and innovating the diversity of food and drink.Ā
- The residential bathroom is a new area for bathing, extending into a quiet SPA 6 experience for total relaxation.Ā
- The most intimate of residential bedrooms is recreated as a complete home, making it a quiet Dwell 8 accommodation in Yangmingshan.
The five buildings are housed in a large garden that intertwines culture, life and leisure activities. By combining a modern design vocabulary with contemporary lifestyles, YMS not only redefines the land, but also shapes a new immersive experience for all five senses.
"A lot of big hotels have a lot of facilities, but the atmosphere is often too one-dimensional. I wanted YMS to provide a more layered experience that would make people want to come back after one visit," said Alex. So Alex transformed the five buildings into a 'living garden', where each house has its own function but complements the other.
MCM is not vintage, it is a spiritual vocabulary that responds to contemporary life.
"The current society is full of chaos and anxiety. MCM was born out of the optimism of the post-war era. I want to bring this spirit to YMS," Alex emphasizes, "The point of interpreting MCM is not to revive it, but to draw on its attitude towards life, especially its 'hope and passion for life, and optimism for the future', which is exactly what today's society needs.
"Rather than relying on ostentatious luxury and expensive materials, a sense of nature, ease, comfort, and quality is the only design that is truly relevant to modern life." Therefore, in the design of YMS, Alex has preserved the original architectural framework of the U.S. military dormitory, but has greatly enhanced the sense of permeability:
- Expanding windows to floor-to-ceiling scale increases the sense of connection between the interior and the exteriorĀ
- Reinventing MCM's iconic sunken living room design to create a rich spatial hierarchy.Ā
- Natural materials that continue the MCM symbol, such as stone masonry, millstone floors, and wood furniture.Ā
- Invited Taiyuan Landscape Wu Shuyuan to utilize native plants of Yangmingshan to create grasslands and gardens.Ā
- Together with Jacky, the director of MCM LIVING, we decorated the soft furnishings with classic furniture such as Herman Miller, Knoll, Vitra, etc. and incorporated contemporary art installations to create a nostalgic yet innovative atmosphere.
These simple, open and functional design phrases run throughout the park, and the lines, compositions and bold, rich color palette give the park a look into the future from the past. This is not an obsession with the past, but a rare contemporary language that creates a YMS by onefifteen that is both lively and restrained, bright and classic.
Alex's focus is not only on the restoration of the building, but also on how to integrate the space with the modern lifestyle and tie it together with the MCM vocabulary - YMS, the birth of YMS.
Design is an extension of the field, not an accumulation of styles.
Alex compares himself to a "tailor" rather than a style-driven architect. He believes that every project has its own story and personality, and that the core of design is to distill the characteristics of the place, rather than imposing a personal style.
"YMS by onefifteen is a product created in the context of an era, blending the traces of history with the needs of today. This is not a deliberate design, but a result of understanding the base. It is not a reflection of the past, but of the present."
YMS by onefifteen is a time and space vessel that inspires contemporary living.
Project Architect
Alexander Moh Moh Yan Kit
SURV Architectural Office
"Interpretation of Time and Space, Definition of the Present. - Alex on YMS by onefifteen Behind the design
From 1950-78, the U.S. government sent a large number of military and technical personnel to Taiwan to support Taiwan's development, and built a large number of U.S. military dormitories in Yangmingshan, Shilin, Nangang, and Zuoying in Kaohsiung. A large number of the residences were American-style wooden or concrete bungalows, equipped with courtyards, garages, fireplaces, and other facilities, which gave American military officers far away from home a sense of "home". The post-World War II era of architecture and design in the 1950s and 1960s was characterized by a spirit of optimism and innovation - an emphasis on simplicity, functionality, spaciousness, natural materials, and transparency and connection between the outside and the inside - collectively known as Mid-Century Modern (MCM). This became the architectural style that the U.S. military exported to the world.
When Alex first stepped into the H-2 area of the U.S. Army dormitory in Yangmingshan, he was struck by the area's modern, mid-century atmosphere. He immediately suggested to the team, "This place is great, we should take all five houses [in the same neighborhood]. In just one weekend, the team decided to sign a contract to embark on a special journey back in time to connect with contemporary life.
"Once the positioning is right and the direction and concept are established, all the details and contents will follow naturally. I didn't intentionally "design" the case, but rather guided it to develop into what it needed to be. The special background of the site naturally prompted me to awaken the MCM." Speaking of YMS by onefifteen's historic building reuse project, Alex, the design director, is relaxed, but clearly reveals the core of his design. Behind this calmness comes his deep understanding of history and his precise grasp of time and space.
Reinterpreting history to create an immersive experience
"Yangmingshan is not too far away for Taipei residents, but it still takes a little effort to get up there. If this place has only one function, it won't be able to attract people to come here. Before designing, I was more concerned about: what kind of experience can this place provide? What is the significance of this space to the people?
Alex's idea is to break down, amplify and extend the basic functions of a house - eating, drinking, playing, enjoying and living:
- To welcome visitors, the entrance foyer of the residence is transformed into Gallery4, a space for exhibitions and exchanges.Ā
- A residential guest restaurant for dining and socializing, presented as Restaurant 12, where people connect with food.Ā
- The original residential kitchen for preparing meals and cooking has been transformed into a multi-functional LAB 10 space, enriching and innovating the diversity of food and drink.Ā
- The residential bathroom is a new area for bathing, extending into a quiet SPA 6 experience for total relaxation.Ā
- The most intimate of residential bedrooms is recreated as a complete home, making it a quiet Dwell 8 accommodation in Yangmingshan.
The five buildings are housed in a large garden that intertwines culture, life and leisure activities. By combining a modern design vocabulary with contemporary lifestyles, YMS not only redefines the land, but also shapes a new immersive experience for all five senses.
"A lot of big hotels have a lot of facilities, but the atmosphere is often too one-dimensional. I wanted YMS to provide a more layered experience that would make people want to come back after one visit," said Alex. So Alex transformed the five buildings into a 'living garden', where each house has its own function but complements the other.
MCM is not vintage, it is a spiritual vocabulary that responds to contemporary life.
"The current society is full of chaos and anxiety. MCM was born out of the optimism of the post-war era. I want to bring this spirit to YMS," Alex emphasizes, "The point of interpreting MCM is not to revive it, but to draw on its attitude towards life, especially its 'hope and passion for life, and optimism for the future', which is exactly what today's society needs.
"Rather than relying on ostentatious luxury and expensive materials, a sense of nature, ease, comfort, and quality is the only design that is truly relevant to modern life." Therefore, in the design of YMS, Alex has preserved the original architectural framework of the U.S. military dormitory, but has greatly enhanced the sense of permeability:
- Expanding windows to floor-to-ceiling scale increases the sense of connection between the interior and the exteriorĀ
- Reinventing MCM's iconic sunken living room design to create a rich spatial hierarchy.Ā
- Natural materials that continue the MCM symbol, such as stone masonry, millstone floors, and wood furniture.Ā
- Invited Taiyuan Landscape Wu Shuyuan to utilize native plants of Yangmingshan to create grasslands and gardens.Ā
- Together with Jacky, the director of MCM LIVING, we decorated the soft furnishings with classic furniture such as Herman Miller, Knoll, Vitra, etc. and incorporated contemporary art installations to create a nostalgic yet innovative atmosphere.
These simple, open and functional design phrases run throughout the park, and the lines, compositions and bold, rich color palette give the park a look into the future from the past. This is not an obsession with the past, but a rare contemporary language that creates a YMS by onefifteen that is both lively and restrained, bright and classic.
Alex's focus is not only on the restoration of the building, but also on how to integrate the space with the modern lifestyle and tie it together with the MCM vocabulary - YMS, the birth of YMS.
Design is an extension of the field, not an accumulation of styles.
Alex compares himself to a "tailor" rather than a style-driven architect. He believes that every project has its own story and personality, and that the core of design is to distill the characteristics of the place, rather than imposing a personal style.
"YMS by onefifteen is a product created in the context of an era, blending the traces of history with the needs of today. This is not a deliberate design, but a result of understanding the base. It is not a reflection of the past, but of the present."
YMS by onefifteen is a time and space vessel that inspires contemporary living.