Located in Yeonsan-dong, Pusan, this building was constructed for the purpose of promoting "Xi," a brand of apartments.

In addition to the standard type of an apartment unit exhibition space (a common practice in Korea to publicize and market prospect constructions), a even larger share of the floor area is allocated as a variable cultural space for the locals, which as a result creates a brand-new building typology: a Housing Cultural Center. As economic forces and cultural activities seem to form complex interrelationships causing our private and public spheres to merge and invade each other, this building comes as a product of these current phenomena.



The focus of our investigation is to create a fluid space that can respond to the "continuously new" situations arising from the dynamic flux of economy and culture, and in the organization of the movement system to correspond to such a space.



This new movement organization is necessary to maintain the existing individuality of the spaces, but at the same time be able to expand/unify them in diverse manners to suit future possible needs. Through this, we may be able to discover a new type of spatial efficiency to actively respond to the present and near-future cultural variances, and subsequently open the possibilities for a progressive culture.

As a result of such spatial and circulatory manipulation, the building mass can be organized into two parts: The 'Cubist Mountains', the under mass, from the first floor parking space to the programs connected on the second floor; and the 'Cubist Cloud,' the over mass, of the 3 floor exhibition space and the programs attached to its 3rd floor. These two masses minimize their contact, and the third in-between space is created to form the large, open, abstract, topographical space. These two elements cast a strong contrast, and the spatial depth, direction and views change in response to one's movements in between them, opening up new programmatic possibilities.

The lower Cubist Mountains form two hills and a valley in between, and are finished with familiar textures and landscaping elements in its interior and exterior, to be experienced as a physical topography. The upper Cubist Cloud is finished with white ceilings and transparent/translucent ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) air cushion skin to minimize materiality and physical presence. Moreover, the ETFE skin is lit when dark, further inducing the upper mass as a light, floating volume.




Project:Xi Gallery
Design Period:2006.11 – 2007.2
Construction Period:2007.3 – 2007.8
Type:Commercial,Public
Location:Pusan, Korea
Site Area:10074.80 ㎡
Site Coverage Area:3613.94 ㎡
Total Floor Area:9400.79 ㎡
Building-to-Land Ratio:35.87%
Floor Area Ratio:93.31%
Building Scope:3F + Piloti
Structure:SC
Finish:Plant box, ETFE, polycarbonate

Architects:Mass Studies
Minsuk Cho, Kisu Park, Joungwon Lee, Hyunseok Jung, Young Kim, Younkyoung Shin, Joonhee Lee, Sanghoon Lee, Seongbeom Mo, Jongseo Kim, Bumhyun Chun, Daewoong Kim, Byungkyun Kim, Songmin Lee, Moonhee Han, Yuseok Heo, Jisoo Kim, Hyunsoo Yeo, Geunmi Ryu, Ranhee Kim

Structural Engineer:TEO Structure
MEP Engineer:HANA Consulting & Engineers
Lighting Engineer:ALTO
ETFE:Makmax Korea
Construction:GS E&C + Eunmin C&C
Client:GS E&C







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