SPACE April 2024 (No. 677)
On Creating a Corner of Our City
NNHN73 is located on a corner site at the intersection of back roads in Gangnam’s mega-block. The neighbourhood has seen a boom in new construction in recent years following the Coronavirus Disease-19 pandemic, filled with a series of buildings with distinct design intentions. The project sparked our interest in the way it dealt with corners of buildings and our city. The context of the neighbourhood with its spectacular buildings competing in the building rental market led us to adopt a strategy of minimal openings. The outstanding white façade has been articulated to be read as a continuous plane along the corners. We wanted the white walls, finished with the Sto outside insulation system, to offer the experience – in the midst of buildings finished with various materials – of the moment one takes a breath. The lower part is finished with rough stonecutting to create a distinct horizontal base, and the white wall body of repeated distinct geometry is placed on top of it makes its presence felt. Skylights were visually hidden as much as possible so that the white wall could be fully revealed.
