studio_GAON: house of san jo

‘house of san-jo’ by studio_GAON, gwangju, korea image © youngchae park all images courtesy of studio_GAON

korean practice studio_GAON has recently completed ‘house of san-jo’, a single-storey dwelling within the ‘city of light’, known as gwangju, the fifth largest city in korea. the area is 300 kilometers from seoul and is also known for art and its yearly biennale. the conceptual starting point for the home derived from a 19th century style of music, ‘san-jo’, which expresses the emotions and thoughts of humans with a slow tempo that gradually speeds up. within view of the 1,187 meter tall mountain, mudeung-san’s gently sloping rocky hillsides are reflected within the stone columns.

the 50-square meter structure contains a living room and bedroom connected by a kitchen which directly accesses the outdoor deck. a mature apricot tree and pomegranate tree mark the main entry point. bound by crape-myrtles, the dwelling features a large west-facing window to view the 8 distant mountain peaks. rocks discovered during construction were placed to form stairs and a sculptural garden arrangement.

approach from rock stairway image © youngchae park

image © youngchae park

distant mountain range image © youngchae park

view from the deck image © youngchae park

image © youngchae park

west-facing window image © youngchae park

model

site plan

floor plan / level 0

elevation

sketch

project info:

architect: hyungnam lim, eunjoo roh in studio_gaon project team: minjung choi, sangwoo yi, sungpil lee, seongwon son, haelee jung, aemilia ross photographs: youngchae park location: buk-gu, gwangju, korea use: house site area: 550 m2 building area: 49.23 m2 gross floor area: 49.23 m2  building scope: 1f building-to-land ratio: 8.95% floor area ratio: 8.95% structure: steel reinforced concrete finish: exposed concrete supervision: studio_gaon design period: 2011.01 – 2011.06 construction period: 2011.10 – 2012.02

studio_GAON (22)