studio_GAON forms concrete house of respect and happiness in seoul

studio_GAON forms concrete house of respect and happiness in seoul
photo © yong kwan kim
all images courtesy of studio_GAON

with these words, studio_GAON describes the beginning of their approach towards a project in seoul: ‘the owners of this house asked us to name it as ‘house of respect and happiness’. it was just one full year since they were married. though they weren’t in their 20s, they were very strong and fresh, just as a cornelian cherry quaking by a chilly spring wind. they met at a seminar, got married, and the husband chose respect as the subject of his life, while the wife chose happiness. they wanted to make a space in their house to carry out exchange and educate.’

night view
photo © yong kwan kim

these vague concepts puzzled the architects, leading them to delve into their true meanings and connotations. ‘the most necessary thing in your generation is respect. respect doesn’t come out of pressure or age. using honorific and bowing heads is not respect. respect is an acceptance of an existence, of multiple boundaries, and of visual information.’ this mindset helped them arrive at the idea that the proportions of each program, how they relate to each other, and how circulation navigates throughout the dwelling should be considered in relation to the surrounding context.

watching the back of the residence from the terrain
photo © yong kwan kim

mountain shade covering half of the house
photo © yong kwan kim

the building has two different functions – residential and educational – each with their corresponding structures. but worried about a lack of experiential continuity, the couple requested for a small and comfortable atmosphere to envelop the interior. the only exception arose in terms of the library, where they wanted a sense of opennes so they could read, work diligently, and engage in discussions with guests.

library view
photo © yong kwan kim

the formal manipulations are justified by placing the massings in an arrangement without a true hierarchy. their volumetric relationship prompted the designers to rotate each piece in a slightly different direction. the exterior result is the formation of a gap between them, which is occupied by a yard that sets up their individual entrances. since they required that library connect to the mezzanine, it is higher than the house. by walking up the outside bridge from the study that rises above the court, residents can meet the guest room, and access the rooftop to watch movie, enjoy the air, or hold a meeting while taking in the scenery of the nearby village.

space between each building
photo © yong kwan kim

the bridge connecting each building
photo © yong kwan kim

the expansive use of concrete sets up the architecture as a contrasting figure among the sloping, lush mountaintops. composed of modular rectangles, their surfaces are smooth, raw, and still display remnants of their production. the joints between them are not only functional, but also break down the aesthetic and scale of each façade into decorative fragments that make the aesthetic less brutal than the appearance of a single solid blocks. in order to distinguish the doorways, the aggregates have been change into a rough and tactile mixture.

entrance of the house
photo © yong kwan kim

detail of the windows
photo © yong kwan kim

the façade display each of the joints
photo © yong kwan kim

the openings are backlit by interior lighting
photo © yong kwan kim

closeup of the rough concrete surface
photo © yong kwan kim

project info:

architect: hyoungnam lim, eunjoo roh of studio_GAON
project team: minjung choi, sangwoo yi, seongwon son, sungpil lee, hanmoe lee, joowon moon
photographs: yong kwan kim
translation: joowon moon
location: hanghyeun-ri, sang-myeon, gapyeong, gyeongki-do
use: house
site area: 414㎡
building area: 114.45㎡
gross floor area: 115.65㎡
building scope: 2F
building-to-land ratio: 27.64㎡
floor area ratio: 27.93㎡
structure: reinforced concrete, lightweight wood framing system
finish: exposed concrete, THK24 transparent double glazing
design period: 2012.09-2013.02
construction period: 2013.03-2014.01

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.