ENCOMPASSING A SYSTEM-FORM-AESTHETIC: BRACE

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Place and Conditions 

A new building has been constructed on the site of Dong-A Woodwork, a site familiar to those who once frequented Hongik University (hereinafter Hongdae). For the younger generation travelling from Sinchon to Hongdae, it is a very important and symbolic location as Kevin Lynch once referred to it as the ʻedgeʼ and ʻlandmarkʼ. For LIFE architects, however the meaning of this place was accessory to its function. The 136m2 plot meant the architects concentrated on the structural solutions rather than imparting an abstract meaning or significance. As can be seen from the title of the work, Brace, this project is system-centric from start to finish.  

The Unconstrained Elevations in Modernism 

The solutions that gave rise to Brace goes beyond modernist attitudes and poses a question, what is Contemporary. Modernism, understood not as an era but as an architectural movement, can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but it is impossible to overlook Maison Dom-Ino when speaking of a language of construction. The industrialisation and systematisation of architecture were indispensable factors in modernist design that occurred during the era of industrialisation and mass production, while Dom-Ino was a construction system that allowed architecture to be industrialised as in other fields. Construction became simpler through the complete separation of the envelope and the construction system, and the construction cost could also be slashed to lower costs than expected. At the 2014 Venice Biennale, directed by Rem Koolhaas under the theme of Fundamentals, the theme of the display at the national pavilion was ‘Absorbing Modernity: 1914 – 2014’ while the theme of the Central Pavilion was ‘Elements of Architecture’. The number, 1914, was based on the year Maison Dom-Ino was founded, and Maison Dom-Ino was exhibited on a 1:1 scale in front of the Central Pavilion. It is no exaggeration to say that almost every aspect of architecture was exhibited except for the structural elements. The exhibition at the time, as if commemorating the 100th anniversary of Maison Dom-Ino, seemed to survey a century of modernist experimentation and to propose a new chapter. So, how do we offer an overview of modernism? There will be many answers, but it certainly means the liberating approaches of Dom-Ino construction. We have produced countless designs, thanks to the free elevations enabled by the Dom-Ino system. Although new elevation designs are constantly emerging with the help of digital technology and significant experience, they are merely footnotes to modernism when considered at a deeper level. It remains in parallel regardless of how fresh they look; just as a person wearing a lion mask is still human. 

An Expressive System 

Brace fully reverses the methods of modernist construction. The system, which was concealed behind the elevation, appears in front of us, not only as a system but also as an element with aesthetic appeal. An envelope, separate from a system of construction as described in modernist architecture, no longer exists, while a ‘system-form-aesthetic’ exists as a complete form. Brace’s system and method cannot be irrelevant to the form that has risen tall on this small site, and the structural body exposed on its elevation determines the beauty of the building. Of course, this is not the first of its kind in modern architecture, where the structural system is revealed in its elevation. Le Corbusier proposed the separation of the structure from the elevation in Maison Dom-Ino because, of course, the structural system and elevation had been integrated as one until then. So the aesthetic criteria for elevation were bound to be limited. On the other hand, for contemporary architects, the development of construction methods enabled a more nuanced aesthetic expression of the system. By revealing the structural system outside, it is not constrained to spatial limitations. Toyo Ito applied a patterned system experimented with in the Serpentine Pavilion to TOD’S Omotesando Building. The pattern, reminiscent of a tree, has a higher opening rate as it ascends, reflecting the structural weight load. Just as its beauty does not emerge in the tree pattern but from its structural integrity, Brace’s beauty does not derive from the bracing pattern but from its straightforwardness. This is because the bracing pattern was not arbitrarily selected based upon the architect’s aesthetic criteria, but was appointed as a more rational system pattern than a vertical system pattern so as to better support the lateral force. It is the architect’s responsibility to improve the aesthetic integrity after the basic system pattern has emerged, which forms an external image. What matters to Brace was the introduction of an open corner. This is the point at which architects try to solve contextual issues through the application of an architectural vocabulary, not a philosophical vocabulary. As mentioned earlier, Brace was a place that inevitably attracted attention from its inception, where the architect proposed an open corner to make optimal use of the advantages of a building with a corner of land. In other words, due to the setting at the front, the side of the building does not emerge as if a by-product but establishes a building with an open front on both sides. While connecting both sides in a single bracing pattern, the slab is tied to the brace system with a tension bar to open out the corner. The casually inserted tension bar acts as a finishing touch to complete Brace’s cohesive image. By connecting the corners of the slab away from the main system to the brace system, which is sufficiently reinforced to cope with lateral forces, vertical columns corresponding to incidental compressive forces can be eliminated, thus completing Brace with open corners.  

ⓒHur Wan

ⓒHur Wan

An instinctive Answer to the Contemporay 

Questions are always prompted by the times, and many architects, intentionally or unintentionally, offer answer to them. Christian Kerez, famous for the House with One Wall, claims he doesn’t have a clear architectural language. However, his clear intention to break away from modernist or postmodernist styles or approaches is evident in his architecture, and he often reveals an architecture that breaks away from the Dom-Ino system. The same goes for Toyo Ito: while designing Sendai Meditech, he said he was most concerned about the status of architecture and what it could be in the 21st century. This question of what new architecture can be outside of modernism, represented by Maison DomIno, and possible answers to the question is where we are now. LIFE architects may have come up with a unique solution to overcome the physical constraints of the site from start to finish. However, the process and results come as instinctive answers to the questions posed by the era. What is the contemporary beyond the modernist? Predictably, there must be an answer deep in the subconscious of individual architects, one that could even be unified under a single construction method, free from the separation of ‘Systems, Forms, and Aesthetics’ like Maison Dom-Ino.  

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