“我是马来西亚的Hikikomori，这是我的故事。”这是一篇在2020年封锁期间发表的网上文章，讲述了一个极端内向的人在社会上受到歧视的故事，以及她如何看到人们遵循社会捏造的标准，必须以某种方式行事才能被接受。只有当Covid-19大流行病发生时，她才第一次感觉到自己还活着，而且是正常的，至少在社会的眼里是这样，因为她像以前一样充分地生活，而其他人只是在家里挣扎着应付。自闭症就是在这种社会背景下诞生的，在我们的社会认知中，权利可能是错误的，而错误的是正确的。如果我们能够摆脱社会观念在我们头脑中的影响，我们就有可能找到新的道路向前迈进，而不是在现状中徘徊。

“I am a Malaysian Hikikomori, and this is my story” is an online article that came about during the lockdown periods in the year 2020 that tells a story of an extreme introvert with her social discrimination and how she sees people follow society’s made-up standards where ones have to act a certain way to be accepted. It was only when the Covid-19 pandemic hit with its lockdowns, that she felt for the first time in life as if she was alive and normal, at least to the eyes of society, as she was living fully as before while others were struggling to cope for simply being at home. Introverse was born out of this social context, where the rights in our social perception could have been wrong and the wrongs were right. If we could ditch the influence of social perception in our minds, we may possibly find new paths to progress onward instead of wandering on the status quo.

Introverse是一个新装修的家，我是一名建筑师，我的妻子是一名当代艺术画廊主兼马来西亚当代艺术的狂热收藏家，还有我们四岁的儿子。2019年，我被诊断出患有声带癌，从那时起，我学会了拥抱性格内向的我。我和妻子在2020年启动了这个属于我们自己的项目，从立项、构思、设计，到长期施工，项目跨越了整个大流行病时期的2年。Introverse改造了位于吉隆坡郊区70年代开发建设的一栋单层半独立式房屋，它违背了社会规范，提出了一种新的生活方式，这种生活方式是以内向的方式组织房屋，与普通的外向型房屋相反。

Introverse is a newly renovated home for myself an architect, my wife a contemporary art gallerist cum avid collector of Malaysian contemporary arts, and our four years old son. In 2019 I was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer, and since I have learned to embrace my introverted character of me. My wife and I initiated this very own project of ours in 2020, from inception, conceptualization, design, and to long-haul construction, the project spanned through the entire 2 years of the pandemic period. Remodeling a single-story semi-detached house in a suburban township that was developed and built in the 1970s outside of Kuala Lumpur, Introverse defies the social norms and puts a new living to its test, a living in where a home is organized in the introversion manner, contrary to the normal outward-looking houses.

Introverse的建筑首先将花园重新定义为房子。它从一个全高的线性花园墙开始，悬挂在一个钢结构上，悬停在地面上，距离周边的围栏有10英尺，在花园中创造了一个新的围墙花园。与外部花园分离的内部花园，反映了中国古代建筑或日本的禅宗花园，看到了一个新的目的。这是一个人们可以不受安全和隐私限制的户外空间，一个人们可以同时利用和享受的花园。正是在这个有墙的花园区域内，房子的湿润房间、厨房和浴室被发现，自由地整合在一起，没有物理墙来界定各个区域。

The architecture of Introverse takes precedence in redefining the garden into a house. It started with a full-height linear garden wall, suspended on a steel structure, hovering above the ground, and running 10 feet from the perimeter fencing, creating a new walled garden within a garden. Separated from the outer garden, the inner garden, mirroring the ancient Chinese architecture or the Japanese Zen Garden, sees a new purpose. It is an outdoor space where one can live without the constraints of security and privacy, a garden that one can utilize and enjoy at the same time. It is within this walled garden area where the wet rooms of the house, the kitchen, and the bathrooms are found, integrated freely with no physical walls defining the individual areas.

在花园的另一侧，创建了一个线性交叉通风隧道，将房子与邻近的邻居分开。由于中间有一个院子作为烟囱，这个区域内的各个房间完全由可渗透的可调百叶窗和穿孔金属隔开，使这个区域成为另一个半户外空间，在这里可以找到公用设施、门厅、化妆间和夹层游戏室。

On the opposite side of the garden, a linear cross-ventilation tunnel is created to detach the house from the adjacent neighbor. With a courtyard sitting in the middle as a chimney, the individual rooms within this zone are solely separated by permeable adjustable louvers and perforated metals, making this zone another semi-outdoor space where the utility, foyer, powder room, and a mezzanine playroom are found.

所有提到的半室外空间都是向内排列的，看向房子的核心，那里有客厅和餐厅，是我们定义住宅目的的空间。这个核心空间的两侧各有两间卧室，这三个主要房间从根本上构成了房子。作为对建筑和社会文化背景的反应，在外部，房子被覆盖在新的金属屋顶上，但仍保留了原来的建筑轮廓，在内部，房子的旧的复杂布局被完全剥离，变成了最简单和最小的空间。

All the mentioned semi-outdoor spaces are arranged inwardly looking to the core of the house where the living and dining room stands, a space where we define the purpose of homes. This core space is flanked by two bedrooms on each side and these three main rooms make up the house fundamentally. Reacting to both architecture and sociocultural context, externally, the house is covered in new metal roofing yet with the original building profile remaining, and internally, the old complexed layout of the house was entirely stripped and transformed into its simplest and minimal spaces.

极简主义的理念体现在房子的空间组织上，并进一步表现在材料选择、建筑装饰、内置物、室内陈设到房子周围的当代艺术的策划上，这些都决定了房子的空间质量。在这里，极简主义不是一种风格，而是对我们的当代需求、标准和生活方式的一种建筑解决方案。它是一个将我们生活中不必要的东西最小化的公式，从囤积的习惯，以及社会观念的影响到不辜负别人的期望。在Introversive中，我们可以诚实地面对自己，找到自己的声音，定义自己的生活，这就是极简主义的本质，我们自己的极简主义版本。

The philosophy of minimalism is reflected in the spatial organization of the house and is further expressed in its material selections, architecture finishings, built-ins, and interior furnishings to the curation of contemporary art around the house, and these define the spatial quality of the house. Here, minimalism is not a style, but an architectural solution to our contemporary needs, standard, and lifestyle. It is a formula to minimalize the unnecessaries of our life, from the hoarding habit, and the influence of social perception to living up to others’ expectations. In Introversive, we can be honest with ourselves, find our voice, and define our own life, and that is the essence of minimalism, our very own version of minimalism.

Architects: Core Design Workshop
Area : 3000 ft²
Year : 2022
Photographs :Bricks Begin | Ceavs Chua
Manufacturers : Breezway, Benima Fans, Bluescope, Hume Prima Fibre Cement, Panasonic, Sorento
Architectural Design : Chun Hooi Tan
Main Builder : Sinar Sintetik Sdn Bhd
Electrical Works : Kejuruteraan Letrik T&K Sdn Bhd
Art & Interior Curation : Scarlette Lee
Architect In Submission : How Architect
Sanitary Ware : Arch Green Enterprise
Metalwork : M Steel Solution
City : Subang Jaya
Country : Malaysia