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.

The most recent four works of architect Kim Kwangsoo (principal, studio_K_works) are remodeling projects ordered by public clients. These places – an incineration plant, school, and an underground pathway – were originally deemed irrecoverable due to their collective failure to fulfill their intrinsic functions over time. An architect revives such spaces through architecture and draws them back into society, but throughout the phases of planning to construction the architect must bear responsibility for all variables and restrictions, including limited funds, the formation of a common understanding between related parties, site security, and practical problems related to legalities and regulations. In spite of these difficult processes, what with his deep understanding of the entrenched society and history in these spaces, the architect Kim has accurately matched the historical uniqueness of each building with these broad contemporary demands. His attempt to create recollections of the past while proposing architectural visions for the future makes us hopeful for the new lives gifted to these buildings.

Architecture keeps changing within the urban context. It adopts the city’s various functions and programmes, and as a result, interiors have become more complicated. However, the complexity of the interior is not always demonstrated on the exterior façade. Instead, only a simple relationship between volume and surface is implied. This is common, replicating a typical commercial situation in which production is prioritized and development is conducted in a disorderly manner. The practice UNSANGDONG architects has continued to distinguish itself with an architecture that tries to resist the surrounding order by adopting the conditions of reality. On the basis of meticulous observation and theoretical research of multifaceted urban phenomena, they propose a new landscape through its sensual and experimental works. We will consider three of their new works in Gangnam for this month’s FRAME. What kinds of expression do these works add to the façade of this city, an urban landscape largely formed by small and medium-sized industrialized architecture?