A Hong Kong architect continues his love affair with minimalism
Sean Niem is a stickler for clean lines, as can be seen in his new apartment, which is beautiful on the outside and functional on the inside
The reasons design minimalists grow up to be maximalists are varied: getting married and having children is one. Ability to acquire more is another. Inability to edit could also be a factor.
Sean Niem, however, has remained true to the stripped-down aesthetic that guided the design of the first flat he created, 11 years ago, for his family of three. In 2006, Post Magazine visited that apartment and remarked on how everything in it had been “aligned, tucked in and straightened out”.
During an afternoon spent with the Hong Kong-born, Canadian-educated architect/interior designer at his new Mid-Levels apartment, we discovered the same could be said again. Only this time around, things seemed neater and even more concealed.
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“It became almost an obsession,” acknowledges Niem, referring to his and wife May’s desire to conceal things. In their 1,848 sq ft open-plan home, accommodating two bedrooms and a shared study, capacious cupboards create order. Storage space begins at the front door, curves around the living room and flows into the dining/kitchen space before appearing again in the private quarters.
“The storage space goes hand in hand with the design of the flat, which we wanted to be open plan,” says Niem. “It allows us to hide all of our stuff that isn’t attractive, so what’s left are the beautiful things that we enjoy having people see. Storage allows us to be minimal.”
It also enabled Niem to turn a curved living area into a rectilinear one.