Site + Desire Louverwall is for a couple with five cats. The husband is a music enthusiast who manages the cafe where he enjoys music, coffee, and beautiful space. He wants the café space to be vertical, transparent, and dynamic. They need a small residence on the 2nd and 3rd floors consisted of a bedroom, a living room and a small kitchen. The site is located in the newly developed mixed-use building district in Paju. The plot is surrounded by other buildings on its three sides; it is only open toward due west. Thus, the main challenge of the project is to come up with the west façade that is energy efficient and transparent.

Mass + Light The goal is to have soft daylight in the café space, as it is facing due west. We have decided to limit the direct light of the west and bring in the light from the south. As the south side is blocked by another building, we can only have clerestory. The clerestory of the south side continues to the west creating the curtainwall facade. Inside the envelope, the two massive curved walls are formed to bring in natural daylight deep into the ground floor year round. The light that changes every minute touches the interior surfaces. Every movement of the clouds, the sun, as well as the changes of season is recorded on the walls.

Louver + Curtainwall The curtainwall façade is combined with the louvers for the building performance. The louvers are designed to block the summer sun, and to bring in the heat of the winter sun. The aluminum louvers cover the entire curtainwall, creating a sense of solidity. The louver design is done using PLDS (Parametric Louver Design System) which is an algorithm that finds the best performing louver form for the given surface. It finds the optimized set of formal parameters for the given glazed surface; angle of rotation, spacing, projection length, and inclination. The optimized louvers do not just block direct sunlight. It calculates how much summer sun is blocked and how much winter sun can pass through. Therefore, the curtain wall does not create extra heating and cooling load to the building, but offers glazed façade with soft daylight. The structure, curtain wall, and louvers have all worked out together as one’s change affects the others. The final design came out as a synergetic process between the creativity of the designers and the analysis of the system.

*PLDS (Parametric Louver Design System) is an algorithm that runs in Rhinoceros 3D as a grasshopper file. A team of Seoul National University’s researchers led by professor Choi, Jaepil has developed the algorithm funded by the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs of the Korean government.

Performance + Experience The light pours in between the two curved walls, emphasizing the verticality of the space. As one walks up the stairs to reach the rest space, one can experience the utmost play of light and shadow, and the verticality. The shadow of louvers create rhythmical pattern on the curved surfaces; the pattern continuously changes as the light changes. This visual play of light and shadow becomes even more dynamic as it meets the rhythm of music. The music floats in the space, and the play of light continues.

Architects : AND Location : Paju-si, South Korea Architect in Charge : Euiyeob Jeong, Taekyoung Lee Area : 188.0 sqm Project Year : 2016 Photographs : Kyungsub Shin Manufacturers : Dongwha, Terra coat

Architecture of Novel Differentiation

Platform-L Contemporary Art Center is located in a residential area of the Gangnam district in Seoul, South Korea. The sites irregular geometry - an irregular trapezoid - and being surrounded on three sides by street presented was a unique design challenge. The Laws of Architecture on the proposed site limiting building ratio to be no more than 60% of the total site area was a key focus to the design of Platform-L. This restriction typically leads to most projects designating parking to be on grade with a large mass covering the rest of the site.

Platform-L situating the parking to be underground allows for a voided space on grade. The design of two independent masses with a central courtyard opening to the west proved to be the most efficient use of space. The north end mass is comprised of the museums entrance, two exhibition spaces, VIP lounge, as well as featuring a roof terrace looking out towards the cityscape. On the south end of the site a cafe / restaurant and office spaces are located. The exterior façade design inspiration came from Louis Quatorze fashion design company. This company is the sponsor for Platform-L and ideology is based on Louis XIV. The use of basic geometries of Louis XIV was reinterpreted to become the design for the façade of Platform-L. This design stands as a new symbol for the company and its high regard for fashion and culture.

Platform-L Contemporary Art Center in Seoul is situated in a secluded area near the Segwan Seoul Customs intersection in the Nonhyeon-dong neighborhood of Gangnam District. Its uniquely shaped footprint—an irregular trapezoid—necessitated utilizing innovative design elements in response to the unique challenges presented by its unconventional dimensions. Although urban planning in Gangnam generally adheres to a grid system, Platform-L enjoys street access on three sides, a distinguishing feature of the site and one of its many assets. The site is also classified within a general residential zone rather than a commercial zone, subjecting it to increased restrictions concerning building coverage rate and floor area ratio. With these considerations in mind, a more compact plan for the building was prioritized.

This geometry implies Louis XIV’s wishes to be recognized as an absolute royal entity rather than a mediator between god and man. The circle, square and octagon were utilized extensively in the geometric plan of the famed Gardens of Versailles executed during Louis XIV’s reign. These symbols served as physical embodiments of heaven, earth and the authority of the king, respectively. The exterior façade of Platform-L reinterprets the historical notion of absolute authority, particularly with regard to the site’s unconventional plan and its surrounding roads on three sides. The application of this concept is the transformation of the octagon into widened lattices which highlight the building’s horizontality and imply infinite expansion toward the horizon. The appropriation of this geometry within the context of local culture is realized through the use of tenon joints to bind materials, a practice typically seen in traditional Korean windows. In total, three separate louvers were fitted together to form Platform-L’s lattice of intersecting sight lines and create building’s striking exterior.

Architects : JOHO Architecture Location : Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea Architect in Charge : Jeonghoon Lee Design Team : Gaehee Cho, Il-Sang Yoon, Bong-gwi Hong, Junhee Cho, Moonyoung Jeong Area : 2173.6 m2 Project Year : 2016 Manufacturers : Albeco E&C, Alto Structure : PRIME ENC Engineering : ACE Engineering Lighting : ALTO Landscape : Garden In Forest Construction : JEHYO Construction & Engineering Exterior Finish : Mohse, THE ONE PLANT Client : TAEJIN International (Yongjun Jeon)

JOHO Architecture

Tilt Roof House tries to respect the natural energy flow of the existing mountains and celebrates a primal relationship between experiential qualities of the surrounding nature and a building. By taking advantage of the steep slope around the site, the house blends with the topography and is partially embedded into the ground, while minimizing the excavation of the earth. The roof is tilted to follow the slope of the hill while disappearing into the ground.

The subterranean Tilt Roof House is set amid peaceful mountains and rice fields an hour east of Seoul in Korea. The house shows our understanding and consideration of "Ki", which is the traditional term for the universal energy that permeates through everything.

It is built with careful consideration of construction efficiency and the surrounding nature without disrupting the energy flow. Mass composition of this house is a result of the adaptation of the existing topography line from the north and the parallel line of the adjacent street in the main access area.

The house also utilizes the sloped roof-top as a terrace. It is punctuated by three square boxes: two recessed boxes and one courtyard box. The two partially recessed squares not only serve as outdoor furniture but also distinguish different programs, such as the master bedroom and kitchen underneath the terrace. The central courtyard allows natural light penetration and makes the interior space more desirable and breathable.

The heavy pour-in-place concrete and the pressure treated black-stained pine wood exterior is in contrast to the warm and ambient light created by the bright yellow birch plywood interior. The curvature of the interior wall along the central courtyard softens the pointed corners created by the triangular shape from the living room to the reading area. During the summer time, wind blows from south to north, inducing air circulation from the courtyard, where the kitchen is located creating cross-ventilation.

Architects : BCHO Architects Location : Yangpyeong-gun, South Korea Architect in Charge : Byoung Cho, So-jin Kang Area : 161.78 m2 Project Year : 2014 Photographs : Sergio Pirrone Other Participants : Young-sung Jun, Sung-chul Hong

BCHO architects