SPACE March 2026 (No. 700)
The Understory
The western part of the Hoam Museum of Art has been carefully cultivated over the years. A dense forest of bald cypress trees stands in rows, and, behind them, a sculpture park sits atop a retaining wall built of stacked sandstone. This was once the home of the works of Antoine-Emile Bourdelle, a French sculptor, and we were invited to participate in a design competition to create a café within this sculpture garden. The site initially proposed was the upper area of the park, raised like a podium overlooking the reservoir. However, we found ourselves more deeply drawn to a different imaginative space, approaching the café as if wandering through the cypress forest, gradually slipping into the site beyond the retaining wall. This idea became the foundation for our winning scheme.
After several stages of revision after the competition, the Hoam Cafe became a single hall embedded beneath the ground behind the sandstone wall. The existing retaining wall was integrated into the new structure, becoming part of its exterior. The sandstone, bearing the traces of time, was brought back to be reused as the fi...
KimNam Architects (Kim Jinhyu, Nam Hojin)
Yang Naim, Lee Youna, Jeong Jaehun, Gu Minjun
Gasil-ri, Pogok-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeongg
tourist convenience facility
30,925㎡
159.83㎡
1,385.09㎡
B1, 1F
4.52m
0.52%
0.49%
RC, steel frame, SRC
sandstone, exposed concrete
carbonised cork, wooden flooring
YOON Structural Engineers
HANA Consulting Engineers Co., Ltd.
Dasan Construction & Engineering
May 2023 – Dec. 2024
Jan. – Aug. 2025
Samsung Foundation of Culture
Seo-Ahn Total Landscape Design & Consulting Group
