Architects:aoa architects

Area :597 m²

Year :2021

Photographs :Hyosook Chin

Lead Architects :Jaewon Suh, Euihaing Lee, Uk Sunwoo

Structure Engineering :Eden Structural Consultant Inc.

Construction :Jium CM Corporation

Electrical & Mechanical Engineering :DAEDO Engineering

Landscaping :Botanical Studio SAM

City : Mapo-gu

Country : South Korea

“l'existence précède l'essence”  It has been a long time since colorless and odorless minimalism has become power in Korean architecture or design. I am amazed at the finish and the way it is made, but if I look at it, there is something uncomfortable about it, probably because of the vomiting caused by the doctrinal attitude behind it, that there is a more correct metaphysical idea. Unless we acknowledge our barren lives and the reality of the city I am stepping on as it is and present our possibilities in it, our architecture will not only be alienated from the public, but also uniqueness from a global perspective.

Genius Loci called ‘hongdae’  The "White Box" buildings, which eager to show-off themselves in a chaotic town called 'Hongdae', does not fit like nerd, who appeared very nervous at social gatherings. Even if you look around right now, various things have their own reasons for existence, and they are cool without the will to be harmonious. The key is how to accommodate such situations but place them in the innate order of architecture. If you leave it in an incongruous state, it cannot be called a "design," and if you stick to a harmonious state, it is also not hip. As a result, I hoped that a gentleman in black suits with ugly shoes and Coca-Cola would appear.

A rental neighborhood living facility and cost-effective floor plan - There should be no place to throw away the rentals built in Hongdae, where land prices are high. Therefore, the building has a compact core on one side and a square rental space without pillars is further stacked indoors. The main entrance to the first floor is located at the end of a long corridor created by minimally opening the core and the rental space. Therefore, there is not generally visible "hall" space, and emergency exits, men's toilets, stairs, facility checkpoints, and women's toilets are arranged in order with as many openings as necessary on the core wall. On the other hand, the opposite glass block wall transmits light into the hallway and stimulates emotions, but mercilessly cuts the ceiling structure beam visually.

A toy for a symmetry-game - As seen in the model of nature, the most stable and optimized structure is symmetrical. Therefore, in theory, symmetry entails the least cost. However, it is not an exaggeration to say that in cities with complex conditions, it is not easy for buildings to obtain symmetrical shapes, and in the case of buildings built on small land, the right to sunlight and the floor area ratio determine their shape. This fact may not be convenient for architects, but it does not seem good to present such a result as if the architect humbly accepted external conditions without the will to create. 'Seogyo-geunsaeng' also has a form of being set back from the fourth floor under the law of the right to sunlight, but by setting the same position on the other side, the building is not only structurally efficient, but also looks cute like a Lego toy, separating it from the context.

(a)tectonic and the matter of its expression - While the form is easily understood, the structure is not as honest as thought. The metal object, which holds the building like a pillar on the first floor of the north entrance, is an empty mailbox, and the circular concrete cylinder on the west semi-basement elevation is acting as a support pillar, but it is not necessary in terms of location. In other words, Seogyo Geunsaeng uses the wall beams and pillars buried in the core wall and the west side solid wall as its main structure, and the rest of the elevation is designed with cantilever, sometimes looking like a wall structure and sometimes like a rhamen structure. In particular, the bold beam, which supports slabs like splints on the ceiling of each floor, plays an important role in the entire structural system, and by thickly painting green paint, it presents uncanny mixture of lightness of plastic and the heaviness of the structure. The diagonal lines drawn on the core wall facility inspection hole are a graphic play on that green beam.

5 heterogeneous elements - The upright objet, which may seem arrogant, softens itself due to impurities placed here and there and settles on an irregular land. It is like an insect with a symmetrical torso stretching its feet here and there to be integrated with the ground to stand on a bumpy rock. The silver stairs, located on both sides of the western front which sit on obediently to property line, attract passers-by into the store, while the T-shaped mailbox near the main entrance, the homage to architect Hans Hollein, adds symbolism as a commercial facility. In addition, the toilet with a corrugated steel roof in the south gives the impression of a back door after completion, and the small wall installed to cover the elevator tower exposed to the rooftop becomes a neon sign with "seogyo geunsaeng" to match the atmosphere of the neighborhood.

gage, sangga, geunsaeng - If you look around, all the neighborhood living facilities(geunsaeng) called shopping malls(sangga) and shops(gage) are equipped with awnings, but they are usually installed after completion, so cheap and light materials are the mainstream. Seogyo Geunsaeng interpreted these awnings as the typicality that appears in the modern program and tried to include it as an architectural vocabulary, and as a result, the building seems to have further accumulated shopping malls with long earning. However, since it cannot be as economical and functional as installing an awning after completion, thus, it should not be a 're-presentation'. So, the angle of the light pink wedge attached to the spandrel stops now of it does not function. For that, it remains as an ornamental symbol, flipping over the function. In the other word, the building can be given their own characters through social reinterpretation of the program itself, not the user.

Harmony of disharmony - In the common space including the stairwell, various materials are intentionally mixed. Rather than emphasizing so-called physical properties and details, the method of arranging and juxtaposing candid materials without hierarchy of value makes possible to accept Hongdae’s own philosophy which leads to analogical interpretation of the town. It intended a cyber phenomenon of endless reflection by facing each other with stainless mirror-finished men's and women's bathroom walls and added a somewhat dark and classic atmosphere by using deliberately strong patterns of black stucco, stained-stone on the floor, elevator hall's red travertine wall, white oak ceiling, copper-coated railing, and circular pendant. It was an experiment on whether they can be harmonized while being inadvertently juxtaposed rather than excluding things that do not match.

Again, architecture - Architecture is of course a social product, but that does not mean that buildings are created by majority vote. Although architecture is classified as a service industry, we know well that user satisfaction cannot be the only goal. Buildings can be altruistic, but we now need to admit that architecture cannot be altruistic. Although buildings are public goods, it should not be forgotten that architecture has no choice but to become a very internal subjective voice that integrates and interprets many conditions and makes its own rules. Therefore, the strictest object is not the dimensions or details, but the architect himself.

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