Our ancestors house, which was built on flattened ground and had shape of ㅁ or ㄷ, was like a small confidential space for one’s family that was based on Confucian philosophy such as geomancy and ethical relationship between husband and wife. Modern city, on the other hand, is reclaiming land from the sea, destroying the nature that had been preserved for centuries and mechanically producing artificial grounds in order to expend a fertile land for human life.
Series of detached houses with the same standardized form and their newly assigned address is located next to the road inside new housing complex in Suwan-dong of Gwangju-city in Jeollanam-do Province, where this project is located. This open land sitting on the entrance of street all by itself was such a challenging ground for the owner to build a comfortable private home, where architectural guideline for creating a neighborhood with the minimum fence felt like a merciless demand.
The process of putting 'private and secret story of individual' into this house started by filling shared interior space with high density courtyard. Instead of putting shared courtyard that is surrounded by spatial frame, this house offers distinguished microcosm to each family members through small multi-core courtyards. Independently composed cell with individuality forms diversified external view, while its internal pattern creates categories of various human behaviors by mixing livings with various personalities.
Surfaces with various personality provides continuous promenade, which is covered with stories of many behavior that came from the core of each surfaces, and fragmented and furtive scenery inside open city center (Perspective Intime) will operate as flexible frame that can embody continuous changes of generation. Architecture should act as a compound receptor that can physically assures the unique life of each individual, and should not be a concentration camp for isolated individuals of community life.
Confidential space will continuously stage and create dramatic patterns with each condensed small worlds that are piled up one on another.
Location: 1223, Jangdeok-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju , Korea
Use: House
Site Area: 461.10㎡
Building area: 178.13㎡
Gross floor Area: 266.02㎡
Structure: RC
Building scope: F2
Finishing: white stain on exposed concrete, Red Cedar, granite stone burner flaring
Design period: 2013. 12 ~ 2014. 04
Construction period: 2014. 05 ~ 2014. 12
Design team: Park Haein, Park Jongbeom, Lee Sanghak, Joo Ikhyeon, Jeong Donghwi, Yoon Jihye
Photographer: Park Wan-soon
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