Sign up for VMSPACE, Korea's best architecture online magazine.

Login Join


To Seek Balance in Architecture: Diagonal House

Min Workshop

written by
Min Wusik
photographed by
Hwang Hyochel(unless otherwise indicated)
materials provided by
Min Workshop
edited by
Park Semi
background

©Min Workshop

SPACE May 2022 (No. 654)​

 

The first thing when beginning any of our designs is undoubtedly the lifestyle of residents. Having started with the two key client requests — that is, for the living room, kitchen, and dining hall to be all on the second floor, and to have separate bedrooms on the first and third floors — the Diagonal House was designed to follow a top-heavy form with a relatively smaller first floor and larger second and third floors. The outdoor transition zone on the first floor was built in a diagonal line supporting the second and third floors, and the bulky third floor mass was cut diagonally to give it a sharper image. The second-floor interior is an open space without dividing walls. A bathroom that looks like a diagonal house within a diagonal house, ceilings of different heights and shapes, and a height difference created by the steps on the floor give the feeling of being at different zones within a same space. While the interior might be hard to visualise from the floor plan itself, the diagonal lines of the planes and sections contrast with the perpendicular lines and brought about an exciting scene. The natural light coming in from various directions create a diverse spectacle onto the space with a simple material finish. The light coming from the semitransparent glass ceiling in the bathroom creates an atmosphere never seen before using other materials. A cantilever structure was actively employed on the third floor mass to emphasise the very slight contact between the interior and the edge.​

 

Diagonal House, 2F

 

Diagonal House, 3F

 

Architect

Min Workshop (Min Wusik)

Design team

Lee Seunghun

Location

10-14 triplehills- ro, Yongin, Korea

Programme

single house

Site area

235§³

Building area

117§³

Gross floor area

233§³

Building scope

3F

Parking

2

Height

10m

Building to land ratio

49.8%

Floor area ratio

99%

Structure

RC

Exterior finishing

concrete brick, stucco

Interior finishing

Lacquer paing, wooden flooring, galvanized steel

Structural engineer

Eungujo Engineering

Mechanical and electrical engineer

PCM, Inc.

Construction

Jayeon and Wuri

Design period

July 2018 – Feb. 2019

Construction period

Mar. – Nov. 2019

Client

Hong Youngjun, Cho Yanghee


Min Wusik
Min Wusik, after receiving his MArch at Cranbrook Academy of Art in the US and gaining work experience for about a decade, opened his studio named Min Workshop in 2011 at Seochon, Seoul. Instead of following cutting-edge technology and trends, the focus of Min¡¯s work lies in small architecture where he seeks to strike a balance between intuition and universal solution. Of his key works, one notes the Vault House (2017), Café TONN (2019), Diagonal House (2019), Ariji Building (2020), Bahariya (2022), and Durastack Headquarters (2018) for which he was awarded the KIA Award in 2019.

COMMENTS