An island getaway, a home in the country, your own private paradise, is a dream too far for most people. But architect Mu Wei has laid the foundations, literally, for such a dream for his family and himself on an island on the outskirts of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province.
"Everything was dreamy here when I first saw it, with weeds, a tree and a vast spread of water," says Mu, 38, who was born and bred in North China's Hebei province.
The island covers an area of 20 hectares and was rented by a friend of Mu's more than a decade ago, mainly for sustainable agriculture development.
"It was great to find a place like this near the city to allow my children and myself to escape from urban life for a change," he says.
Mu began to build houses on the island with some of his friends in 2017. The whole project took a year, and now four houses, each with particular features, stand testament to his vision.
Mu's own house covers an area of 60 square meters and resembles a big "X".
"It was built of logs and bolts, at low cost, and blends into the natural landscape," he says.
The house was built to have a life span of at least 40 years. Mu explains that usually the land lease can be renewed after the old one expires.
Because of the shape of Mu's house, the many corners present a different vista of the water-and-mountain scenes. The glass frontage gives the house a reflective mirror-like quality so you see the surroundings even with your back turned to them as you approach the building.
"I tried to make it as something that's one with nature," Mu says.
The idea is to let the house blend into its surroundings. One surprising feature is that the house doesn't have designated bedrooms which means the multipurpose rooms can be adapted at a moment's notice.
"My children can roll around on the floor, barefoot," Mu says.
The weekend hideaway, with plentiful fishing on offer, rabbits frolicking and pheasants dropping in, is just 90 minutes from downtown.
Mu says he wanted his 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son to sample the wonders of nature up close and personal.
Mu first considered a country life in 2005, the last year of his architecture studies at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. He joined a program hosted by celebrated Taiwan architect Hsieh Ying-chun, along with more than 40 architecture students, to build cheap housing for the disadvantaged.
