This Kuala Lumpur Apartment Was Inspired by Romantic Hong Kong Filmmaking
Inspired by Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, a bachelor’s apartment in Kuala Lumpur masterfully blends nostalgic Old Shanghai aesthetics with modern design, creating a space of wistful romanticism
In the Mood for Love, a romantic masterpiece by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, may have premiered more than 25 years ago, but it continues to inspire. This time, its influence finds expression in a bachelor’s apartment in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Set in 1960s British Hong Kong, the film stars Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung as Shanghainese expat neighbours whose lives coalesce after they discover that their respective partners are having an affair. Everyday environments swell with atmosphere, from the acidic colour palettes and mesmerising, sharp qipaos to silences punctuated by tendrils of cigarette smoke, swirling with longing.
Victoria Loi, chief creative officer at Kuala Lumpur-based design firm The Makeover Guys, partnered with the homeowner to imbue the apartment with this wistful romanticism and Wong’s flair for framing spaces through colour and materiality. ‘We wanted to create a space that would evoke emotion and spark your imagination,’ Loi explains. ‘I’d always loved how a cinematographer uses light, structure and texture to conjure feeling, even in scenes without much dialogue.’
Red — a recurring motif in the film — was a clear starting point. However, its vibrancy can often overwhelm a room and compromise its timelessness. With a light and sure hand, Loi employs the colour in various shades and exacting moments without overpowering the overall palette. ALPI Sottsass Red veneer, reminiscent of a furnace’s vivid embers, forms the base of the custom dining table, tempered by an acid-washed black Indian granite tabletop.
The dining room as a whole nods to Old Shanghai, a period that fused Chinese tradition with Western inflections like Art Deco. An Emperador marble shelf combines with vintage handmade tiles and herringbone-patterned wool upholstery to form an enthralling nook, made complete with Bauhaus-inspired chairs from Hangzhou-based furniture brand Grado. A slanted panel with serrated edges amplifies visual interest, breaking up the square dining area while cleverly concealing a bulky refrigerator.
The reds deepen in the living room, which features cherry-hued framed sliding panels and handles with scarlet-tinged marble detailing. Loi also tapped into her own storied past: the intriguing Minster-patterned glass took inspiration from her grandmother’s home in Sabak Bernam, Selangor. ‘She had similar glass cabinets that evoked 1960s Malaysian style and evoked a sense of nostalgia,’ she says.
Once again, the brighter tones are offset by the decidedly moodier walnut wall panels, Emperador marble detailing and handmade glass sconces from Guangzhou. Anchoring the space is a three-metre leather sofa from Grado, sized to suit the owner’s build. Nearby, a lounge chair embroidered with striped patterns is redolent of Old Shanghai qipaos.
As with Wong’s films, subtle, oft-overlooked gestures abound in the home. The hallway entrance is built with a tilt to counterbalance the dining room’s angled panel. In the main bedroom, a pendant lamp and sconce set off an asymmetry, alluding to the emotional push and pull between the film’s protagonists. Though Loi initially had a more restrained colour scheme in mind, the owner encouraged her to experiment with a dash of red. The result is a muted raspberry upholstery that enlivens the room while aiding its acoustics.
Throughout each room, Loi’s delicate approach recalls Wong’s distinctive sensitivity to minutiae, seen in her mindful selection of materials and her perceptive use of colour and texture. The apartment reminds us that a home is made to be a repository of love, memory and time, and it has every ability to kindle intimacy and beauty, just like Wong’s iconic films.
Text by Joseph Koh
Images by Weng Jen
