25 Asian courtyards that will make you rethink the way you live


A wooden deck is part of the central courtyard – which provides air and light for the living area and top-floor rooms – at AN House in Jakarta, Indonesia, designed by d-associates. Photo: David Linggar

When author and editor Charmaine Chan first went to the Cheong Fatt Tze heritage building in Penang in the late 1990s, little did she know that it would leave a lasting impression on her.

“A few years after restoration work was completed on the mansion, I visited and found myself in the main courtyard. There, in a spot considered the feng shui heart of the house, I felt something like electricity course through my body.

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