SPACE February 2025 (No. 687)
I AM AN ARCHITECT
‘I am an Architect’ was planned to meet young architects who seek their own architecture in a variety of materials and methods. What do they like, explore, and worry about? SPACE is going to discover individual characteristics of them rather than group them into a single category. The relay interview continues when the architect who participated in the conversation calls another architect in the next turn.
interview Cha Jae principal, studio mmer × Kim Bokyoung
Along the Streamside
Kim Bokyoung (Kim): Your office is very nice. Is this office for your use alone?
Cha Jae (Cha): Instead of managing a large organisation and taking on unnecessary projects to sustain it, I prefer working alongside partners on projects that are meaningful. Instead, I manage a co-working space lounge called the ‘wet Segeomjeong’, where current and potential collaborators from the local community can freely use the space whenever required. I am currently curating the stories of wet Segeomjeong, while sharing the stage left and right as work spaces with Kim Daewoo, who planned and oversaw the overall operation of the Place Camp Jeju. The two pieces of furniture you see there have wheels. When turned, they can be used as a stand and therefore make the space versatile for lectures and performances.
Kim: How did you end up settling in this neighbourhood?
Cha: It has been a little over a year now since I first opened my office in this area. The most important factor for me when searching for the office site was whether the building was close to the natural environment with a large window that could frame it. I almost moved into an office right in front of Yangjaecheon Stream two years ago, but it didn’t go well. While searching for a new space, I came across this place. The fact that Hongjecheon Stream is right in front, with three windows of the office open to Inwangsan Mountain, Bukaksan Mountain, and Bukhansan Mountain, is a huge advantage.
Kim: You seem to have a preference for streamside locations.
Cha: That is true. Our previous office was in Euljiro. The area was good as the district was not sensitive to noise in the evenings and therefore I could have band practice rooms inside the office. However, Euljiro has its unique feeling of draining away one’s energy, and I realised that it wasn’t a place for me to stay and so decided to move on. This is why I ended up looking for a quiet riverside location where I could recharge. Now I think about it, I once had an office near Bulgwangcheon Stream as well!
Cha Jae
Models of milk cow in the studio mmer. studio mmer’s logo features the milk...
