The new design by Studio 09A was created thanks to a family's need to have a public area for business and a private area for the family in their home, allowing the lower floors to be rented out for commercial use. At the same time, the building was intended to stand out from its surroundings in order to attract customers, making the premises more profitable to rent.
The two-storey volume together with its bold roof create an unfamiliar proportion compared to the surrounding buildings. The gabled roof is inspired by the shapes of the roofs of the neighbouring buildings, creating a feeling of greater density. Thanks to its simple volume and the use of light colours, the building is given a minimalist appearance.
Jisan-dong 989-6 by 09A. Photograph by 50BELL.
Project description by 09A
Client needs
The clients, a family with three children, wanted to generate additional income by renting out the lower floors for commercial use alongside their own residence in the city centre. In a dense surrounding context of 3 or 4 storey buildings, the building needed to be different and special, with a public area for commerce and a private area for the family, while also standing out from its surroundings, as they believed this would make their home more special and the rental more profitable.
The architect’s strategy
The architect convinced the clients of what is special, he proposed that the building should not stand out by being different from its surroundings and attract attention, but rather appear as an oddity amidst the familiarity of its surroundings. He borrowed the concept of “strangeness” from Viktor Shklovsky. Just as the feeling of strangeness comes not from the new, but from the familiar, so the “strange appearance” begins with the everyday appearance of the neighbourhood. Jisan-dong 989-6 is an architectural composition and contemporary interpretation of the neighborhood in a form of strangeness. The composition is composed of the shapes of the surrounding buildings, which are uniformized by the restrictions of regulations, the gable roofs built in different ways over time, the horizontal elevations created by the balconies and terrace extensions of the surrounding buildings, and the strange feeling of the thickness of the material. This composition recalls the feeling of an everyday neighborhood that is no longer strange and regains its original freshness.
The form
The legal restriction on natural light does not apply below the third floor and 9m height, so all neighboring buildings have a three-story volume and roof. Jisan-dong 989-6 utilizes the restriction of sunlight rights, with a bold roof and two-story volume, creating an unfamiliar sense of proportion, while the generous ground floor makes the neighborhood more welcoming.
The Roof
Inspired by the roof forms of several neighbouring buildings that have been superimposed over time, the gabled roof responds to its surroundings with minimalist fullness and three curves, creating an unfamiliar sense of proportion.
Horizontal Elevation
The horizontal elevation, created by the balcony and terrace extensions of the neighbouring residential buildings, is another motif of the building, acting as an important functional, proportional and decorative division between the lower and upper floors.
Density of Volume
The unusual thickness of the envelope of the surrounding buildings, created by placing windows as far outward as possible to maximise interior space, belies the sense of material thickness and creates an unusual sense of building density. In this project, all envelopes are laid flat to create an unusual sense of material weight.
