A work that connects materials with their essential dimensions becomes involved in the process of completing a building. Systems drawn from various fields, such as structure, machinery, electricity, civil engineering, become involved in the process, and the architect mediates between them and attributes a sense of order to space. In the belief that the essential role of architecture is to be found in this shifting space, su:mvie architects strives to understand the method and principle of materials and creates space based on precise technological systems. The balance between light and darkness created by an orderly interior, as it reveals its principle of construction, offers a pleasant experience to the user.

Our epoch of decline, represented by a graph of falling economic and population growth, is also an age of cultural transformation more turbulent than anything yet imagined. SPACE here focuses on groups of architects born in the 1980s that are now emerging at this contemporary moment. What social and cultural terrain do they wish to traverse and how will they flourish in terms of their architecture?

A rhythmical building made out of BACE panels has settled in the block near Seolleung Station, where the neighborhood’s banal residential buildings densely populated the area. Buildings designed by Jo Jinman raise their voice without being drowned out. When asked, in a rough manner, about the origin of his architectural style — which has no metaphorical wall but strong definition — he answered, in the manner of a textbook answer, that he begins by reading the site. After getting a better idea of his working processes, including making site models per every design change and recording the site through photos and sketches on countless visits, I realised that I might have brought certain preconceptions with me due to the strong appearances and forms of his projects. One cannot judge whether designing a deliberately disparate architecture is the best way of bringing a place to life. However, evidently, it is an honest result that is less likely to fall into mannerism and force of habit, towards which he tries to remain most vigilant. Here are the three recent works by Jo Jinman, that invite us to think again about architecture as a symbol.