Street Scene with Depth
Seo Seungmo (principal, Samuso Hyojadong)
In Italy, buildings and streets play equal parts in the familiar street scene. On the other hand, in Tokyo, it is difficult to differentiate between buildings and roads. This is because the walls, eaves, gardens, bicycles, flower pots, bonsai on the eaves, laundry hanging on the second floor and typical buildings are mixed to form a landscape.
Ono Hidetoshi has pointed out that there was no language covering the various elements that make up the landscape in the architectural city theory of the past. Presently he defines the elevation of a landscape by including various elements such as a ‘surface layer’. The surface layer is different from the epidermal character of the façade, and it can be said to be a ‘layer with depth’ comprises architecture, nature and life. It also means that the Italian landscape is a series of building façades very different from those found in Tokyo.
The above is a summary of a part of ‘The Surface of the Village’ by Ono Hidetoshi et al. in The City of Hiding and Seek(見えがくれする都市), 1980.
So, what about the landscape of Seochon?
Various architectural types exist simultaneously, ranging from hanok houses lining narrow streets where cars cannot pass, four or five-story multi-generational buildings in which piloti parking is connected, streets where the fences of two-story Western-style houses and hanoks are mixed, hanok dwellings cut to secure the road width, heteromorphic fire lanes in front of former Japanese owned houses, mixed constructions in which buildings with attached walls and those without maintain a distance, and the buildings facing a dead-end and the incised hill.
N Studio have dug down below ground and ‘stacked’ three volumes above ground. It is like a game of Jenga that has been nonchalantly stacked. In order to emphasise this, an upper beam structure has been planned. Exposed concrete ceilings without beams are free from the typical structural bondage between layers. In the basement, there is a warehouse that accommodates works, and on the first floor there is a house that also serves as a tearoom. The second floor is a workroom that is open to the south and enjoys natural lighting. Also, there is a small room on the roof.The objects in the basement are exposed through floating gaps inserted between the ground and the ground floor. The ground floor has three openings. The tearoom is a wooden structure situated between the landscape and the architecture. The sight of guests drinking tea gives a depth to the monotonous façade by showing the activity. According to a change to the opening and closing of paper sliding doors in the tearoom, various relationships have been encouraged in the landscape. Stairs and doors on the first and second floor are located at the side openings. It is simultaneously an eave and a porch space. Because of this shadowy space, it is possible to secure privacy even in more open spaces. The stairs toward the second floor are located on the southern wall. The panoramic window protrudes from the outer wall and is supported by a metal structure. It is a transparent gap placed between the roof of the hanok and sky rather than the interior. The rooftop is both a window for viewing Mt. Inwangsan and a small room at the same time.
The opening of the N Studio is a gap between stacked layers, a tearoom, deep eaves, an attached gap, or a small telescope that overlooks Mt. Inwangsan. Therefore, it is a planar architectural language that affects the landscape in detail. It is only of façade because it has a height value. However, the surface layer of Ono is close to the nature of the overlapping façade in the orthogonal direction of the landscape. It intends for life and landscape to meet closely between openings with depth. As such, it can allow for the continuation of the lasting characteristics of Seochon, where the scenery of life deepens. It makes us imagine a landscape that is different from those founds in other countries mediated by their distinctive façades and surface layers.
Stairs and doors on the first and second floor are located at the side openings. It is simultaneously an eave and a porch space.
On the first floor there is a house that also serves as a tearoom.
The tearoom is a wooden structure situated between the landscape and the architecture. The sight of guests drinking tea gives a depth to the monotonous façade by showing the activity.
The second floor is a workroom that is open to the south and enjoys natural lighting.
The panoramic window protrudes from the outer wall and is supported by a metal structure. It is a transparent gap placed between the roof of the hanok and sky rather than the interior.
Architect
Samuso Hyojadong (Seo Seungmo)
Design team
Lee Insu, Kim Seungtaek
Location
Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea
Programme
office
Site area
119m²
Building area
69.1m²
Gross floor area
158.42m²
Building scope
B1, 2F
Height
7.84m
Building to land ratio
58.07%
Floor area ratio
100.22%
Structure
reinforced concrete
Exterior finishing
cement brick
Interior finishing
exposed concrete, paint
Structural engineer
Eun Structural Eng. Inc.
Mechanical and electrical engineer
Seongji E&C
Construction
Saramjoongsim
Design period
Oct. 2015 – May 2017
Construction period
June 2017 – Jan. 2018
Seo Seungmo
Seo Seungmo was born in Kyoto in 1971, obstained his Master's degree of Fine Art from Tokyo University of the Arts School of Architecture after his studies at Kyungwon University. He worked as a part-time lecturer at the college for two years, and then started working as an independent architectur in Seoul in 2004. He renamed his practice Samuso Hyojadong in 2010 and has carried out a wide variety of projects including houses, hotels and offices.
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