Table of contents for April 2020 in Space

A real old timber frame, a creaking floor, and torn wallpaper make up this exhibition space. The scene before you overlaps with pleasant and bitter short stories in the form of painting, sculpture, installation work, and video. ‘Through the Error’, Seo Chanseok’s solo exhibition held at ART SPACE BOAN 1 (previous boan 1942) from Feb. 19 to Mar. 13, portrayed the errors and emptiness of our life through several stories that explore the line between fiction and non-fiction. First, he tells a story that is almost true and almost fake in About the human John. John, an ordinary worker appears in the video. Though he got rid of a killer crocodile that had threatened the villagers to become their hero, which cost him his arms and legs and left him…

In Feb. 12, Gwangju Metropolitan City announced that it has selected a design by Branislav Redžic (founding partner, ARCVS) as the prizewinner of the International Competition of City Main Library Gwangju. As the first stage in the Sangmu incinerator revitalization project, this design competition was held to construct a public library on the site of a derelict waste incineration plant located at Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu in Gwangju. By transforming a publicly-shunned incineration plant into a public library, the intention is to build an educational and cultural platform that will have a positive effect to the city. The proposed direction for the library building and its external space, according to design principles laid out by Gwangju Metropolitan City is as follows: to maintain the properties of the incineration plant; to keep in…

On Feb. 17, the Gyeongju World Cultural Expo Foundation held a signboard unveiling ceremony at Gyeongju World Culture Expo Park, announcing that the original design copyright holder of Gyeongju Tower was the late Yoo Dongryong (Itami Jun). It is an agreement reached 12 years since the deceased and the bereaved took the Foundation to court for design plagiarism. A ceremony was prepared to end the dispute over the tower’s design copyright and to inform the public that Yoo is the rightful copyright holder, restoring the honour of the deceased and comforting the hearts of the bereaved. At the event, Lee Cheolwoo (governor, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province), Joo Nakyoung (Mayor, Gyeongju city), Yoo Ehwa (principal, ITM Yoo Ehwa architects), the eldest daughter of Itami Jun, and Jung Dawoon (CEO, Giraffe Picture) who produced…

A shared residence named ‘Collective Mine’ has made its entrance in Gungjeong-dong, located at the end of Seochon. This five-story building is packed with amenities, from the restaurant-café ‘Qyun’, 11m2 -sized individual rooms, and a shared kitchen. Individuals who have come to appreciate its value beyond the sizes of the rooms have moved in, and all rooms are currently occupied. SPACE met up with the planner and operator Kim Mincheol, the architects Cho Yoonhee and Hong Jihak, and the furniture designer Seo Donghan to hear their thoughts on what it means to create a background to community life. Sustainability and Ideal of Social Residence SPACE Collective Mine is part of the Land-leasehold Social Housing project organised by Seoul Metropolitan Government. This project is characteristically public-facing, considering that it invites a…

Architect guga urban architecture (Cho Junggoo) Design team Jo Jiyeong, Hwang Boram, Jung Youjin Location Dongpae-dong, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Programme single house Site area 421.4m² Building area 164.96m² Gross floor area 217.84m² Building scope 2F Parking 2 Height 8.2m Building to land ratio 39.1% Floor area ratio 43.4% Structure heavy timber framing, light wood framing Exterior finishing brick, stuc-o-flex, titanium zinc Interior finishing water paint, oil stain on spruce louver Structural engineer Winus BDG Construction Jayeongwauri Mechanical engineer JUNGIN Engineering Co. LTD Electrical engineer Jisung Consultant Co. LTD Design period Sep. 2017 ― Sep. 2018 Construction period Oct. 2018 ― May 2019 Client Kim Dongkyum, Park Eunsuk About 420m2 of the site, long from east to west, looked spacious in outlook. For the building’s orientation, ‘a linear box’ type that…

Park Semi (Park): I would like to know more details of the regional characteristics and the site conditions of the Dingshi Logistics Office Building (hereinafter Dingshi Office). Han Wenqiang (Han): It’s located in an industrial park on the outskirts of a city in Northern China. The industrial park occupies a plain and expansive land area, which is adjacent to an urban road to the north and next to an unexploited urban land to the south. The office building was planned to sit at the middle of an industrial park, with pine trees, lawns and footpaths forming gardens on its northern and western sides, while on the south side there is a wide front court and a parking lot. It’s a logistics company including freight, garage, trade consulting, real estate, etc.…

Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative (hereinafter Rolex Arts Initiative) will be held this year across a wider field of the arts. The Rolex Arts Initiative is an arts-funding programme that connects and encourages collaboration between new up and coming artists and professionals. Ever since its first opening in 2002, 54 artists in architecture, dancing, literature, music, and others have come to engage with their mentors through their creative activities. At the Rolex Arts Initiative event held recently on Feb. 8 in Cape Town, South Africa, the details of this year’s programme was announced. In the programme for 2020 – 2021, mentors from film, theatre, visual art, as well as those in interdisciplinary and creative fields will participate. In the film category, Spike Lee, who has spoken issues regarding society…

In recent months, there has been a list of consecutive announcements made by regional autonomous cities and public institutions regarding the winners of their design competitions. On Feb. 21, the National Agency for Administrative City Construction and Korea Land & Housing Corporation revealed the competition winner for Shared Campus which will be built in the campus situated within the 4 – 2 settlement zone of the administrative city. As a facility in which multiple universities and research institutions can come to cohabit, Shared Campus was designed with the aim of reducing the financial burden of moving universities and management while stimulating interaction between universities and institutions. The prizewinner ‘Nature Shared Campus’ designed by SIAPLAN (principal, Cho Juhwan) is characteristic for its building positionings that mimic its hilly surroundings as well…

After its test run, Seoul Metropolitan Archives (hereinafter SMA) officially opened its digital archives on Mar. 2. As a service that opens up the key public records produced and collected by Seoul Metropolitan Government, it first opened access to about 170,000 items of records regarding housing and urban planning. One can view the list and the detailed information of a selective collection of about 10,000 records (out of the 110,000 items collected in 2019), among which the housing and urban planning records are organised into 113 thematic series such as spatial facilities, traffic facilities, culture and sports facilities, a land district organisation per region, and so on. Also, one may use the eight record guides that are distinguished per collection series such as park, plaza, Dunchon Jugong Apartment collection, and…

Over the course of 20 years, Cho Junggoo (principal, guga urban architecture) has paid attention to the common aspects of life in his motherland through the design and supervision of architecture, and through a series of site-visits and research. He builds originality from this trivial commonness and draws the hustle and bustle of our daily lives into his architecture. Therefore, his space is filled with vitality instead of silence, and a professional concern to accommodate ordinary activities not directed by an artistic ego that often invites inconvenience. Behind novelty combined with the traditional aesthetics of our times is a compassion for the people and space of our time.…

Architect guga urban architecture (Cho Junggoo) Design team Jo Jiyeong, Yang Sumin, Cho Gayeon Location Sindun-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Programme single house, workshop Site area 659m² Building area 217.27m² Gross floor area 331.84m² Building scope 2F Parking 3 Height 7.92m Building to land ratio 32.97% Floor area ratio 50.36% Structure heavy timber framing, light wood framing, RC Exterior finishing brick, stucco, oil stain on plywood Interior finishing oil stain on plywood, water paint Structural engineer heavy timber & light wood framing ― Best PRE-CUT Co. LTD / RC ― Arisu Engineering Co. LTD Construction Stuga Wood Construction Mechanical engineer JUNGIN Engineering Co. LTD Electrical engineer Jisung Consultant Co. LTD Design period Aug. 2016 ― Apr. 2017 Construction period May ― Nov. 2017 Client Kim Byungil, Lee hyunju The client wanted…

Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced a comprehensive plan that will shift the urban planning of Sewoon Plaza from development and maintenance to conservation and regeneration. The city has encouraged gradual development in the area around old Sewoon Plaza by dividing it into small and medium-size on the ground of Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Plan established in 2014, but it has been criticised for not fully taking account of the current status of manufacturing in downtown of Seoul. The comprehensive countermeasures made public on Mar. 4 will proceed in a few steps; the maintenance of the existing industry and cultivation of new industry, the promotion of a regeneration project in an abandoned redevelopment area, and the implementation of redevelopment project after preparing for tenant protection plan. In cooperation with Jung-gu, Seoul Housing…

Gyejodang, where the crown prince of the Joseon Dynasty once lived, is about to undergo restoration. Beginning with the construction of Gyejodang, the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center (hereinafter RPTC) of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) announced its plans to restore the Donggung area to its original layout by 2022. The Gyejodang was founded in 1868 when Emperor Gojong rebuilt the Gyeongbokgung Palace for the Crown Prince to perform state affairs and hold royal banquets. The Donggung area (the Crown Prince’s Palace) in the east of Gyeongbokgung Palace, where the building is located, was equipped with outer palaces and penetralia, symbolising the succession of the monarchy. Gyejodang was rebuilt in 1891, but in the 1910s, under Japanese colonial rule, the Japanese Government-General of Korea demolished the building to erase the…

Architect guga urban architecture (Cho Junggoo) Design team Yoneda Sachiko, Song Seonmi Location Geomun-ri, Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea Programme single house Site area 935m2 Building area 97.48m2 Gross floor area 97.48m2 Building scope 1F Parking 1 Height 5.2m Building to land ratio 12.44% Floor area ratio 12.44% Structure heavy timber framing, light wood framing Exterior finishing wood siding, brick, stuc-o-flex Interior finishing water paint, Korean paper Structural engineer Doohang Structures & Consultants Co., Ltd Construction Stuga Wood Construction Mechanical engineer JUNGIN Engineering Co. LTD Electrical engineer Jisung Consultant Co. LTD Landscape architect urbangarden_ain Design period Dec. 2015 ― May 2017 Construction period July 2017 ― Sep. 2018 Client Kang Soonjoo Friends decided to live together and found the site before commissioning the architect. Designing five houses, we wanted to design…

The Michelin Guide defines 3-star restaurants as offering the following: ‘Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey’. In other words, a top-rated restaurant is a place that deserves to be the ultimate aim of a journey. Can this also apply to architecture? In fact, architecture has always been subject to this; people make their way to a rural town in France to witness the inspirational colours that light up the interior of an old monastery. Recently we see a greater instance of those who will travel to experience to exceptional homes. For these people, travel is not only about looking around a house but the experience of staying over for one or two nights in this house itself. As the number of travelers has increased in Korea over the past 10…

TWO-FOLD YARD, located in Beijing, China, is a three story building (two levels above ground and one below ground) designed by Tao Lei. It is a home for a family of five as well as a studio for an artist. Two different spaces – the residential space of daily life and a working space for creative and artistic activities – have been separated out but at the same time they coexist. Choi Eunhwa (Choi): First of all, I’d like to know more about the site conditions. Tao Lei (Tao): The project is located in a villa district built by a developer in Beijing. It is surrounded by hundreds of standardized commercial dwellings, each of which retain a small piece of open space. All of these dwellings are closely connected except…