Uketamo by Chris Yj Chen wins Bronze A' Design Award

Uketamo, a Taipei hotel interior by Chris Yj Chen, won Bronze in the A' Design Award's Interior Space and Exhibition Design category. The project turns a hotel lobby and stair system into a layered climb through memory, presence, and renewal.

Why it matters: - Uketamo shows how hotel interiors can do more than move guests through a building. - The project turns circulation into a narrative experience, a direction that aligns with growing demand for wellbeing-focused and culturally grounded hospitality design. - The Bronze A' Design Award can raise the profile of both Chris Yj Chen and Paradox Studio in international design circles.

What happened: - The A' Design Award named Uketamo, a hotel interior by Chris Yj Chen, a Bronze winner in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category. - The project is located in Taipei's Daan District. - The announcement was made June 23, 2026. - The award recognized the design in a competition known for evaluating interior work against pre-established criteria. - More information is available on the award page.

The details: - Uketamo centers on the Staircase of Time, a vertical sequence that links three lobby levels. - The fourth floor represents Solid Roots with tactile textures tied to the past. - The fifth floor represents Layered Branches with interlocking social and functional spaces tied to the present. - The sixth floor represents Ethereal Leaves and water shadows beneath a zenith-lit Mirror Moon, pointing to the future and spiritual rebirth. - As guests move upward, the architecture becomes lighter, shifting from heavy mineral surfaces to luminous, sunlit volumes. - The staircase uses a structural steel frame clad in Italian tile. - Surrounding walls use hand-layered One Dust Colorwash Extra mineral coating to suggest a mountain path. - A sightline analysis aligns the open-riser stair with the Yamago Agu tapestry. - The award jury evaluated the entry on factors including space use, material selection, functional layout, lighting, sustainability, cultural relevance, aesthetics, ergonomics, detail, and accessibility.

Between the lines: - The project reflects a broader move in interior design toward spaces that carry meaning, not just utility. - Uketamo uses a sacred-pilgrimage framework to make a hotel lobby feel reflective rather than purely transactional. - The recognition suggests narrative-driven interiors can compete successfully even in dense urban settings with limited footprint. - For Paradox Studio, the award also reinforces a design approach that blends world culture, local consciousness, and pragmatic execution.

What's next: - The Bronze win may shape future work by Chris Yj Chen and Paradox Studio. - The recognition could encourage more experiments that connect heritage, materiality, and experiential hospitality. - The project may also serve as a reference for designers looking to build emotional depth into compact urban interiors.

The bottom line: - Uketamo is a hotel interior that uses ascent, material contrast, and cultural symbolism to turn a lobby into a story, and the A' Design Award just put that approach on an international stage.