In this week's comments update readers are discussing the announcement of this year's Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Mass Studies founder Minsuk Cho.

Named Archipelagic Void, the 23rd pavilion is set to open in London's Kensington Gardens in June 2024 and will consist of five structures described as "islands", arranged in a star shape around a central void.

"What a mess, I love it"

Commenters weren't all immediately won over by the design. "Not grabbing me", was JZ's initial reaction. Although they did allow for some optimism, writing "hope it ends up a pleasant surprise."

In a comment that was upvoted five times, Ati-st suggested "Serpentine should just cancel the pavilion programme and stop wasting building materials if they aren't committed to doing this properly anymore".

They continued "it's been a long while since they had anything inspiring there".

Souji was much less forgiving, declaring "this is just an eyesore".

However, JB embraced the designs, exclaiming "what a mess, I love it". Meanwhile, John argued that Cho's design was "much better than some in the previous years!"

What do you make of this year's Serpentine Pavilion? Join the discussion ›

"Humans are a horrible species"

Another story that got readers talking this week was about the impact that The Line megacity in Neom could have on birds.

The planned city in Saudi Arabia was highlighted as one of the most pressing conservation issues for 2024, due to the scale of The Line along with its planned mirrored facades, which have been highlighted as posing "a substantial risk to migratory species".

Readers largely shared this concern about the project. "Who knew a giant mirrored wall would have a big effect on wildlife," mocked Hosta.

Commenter J98A was also in disbelief. "Was this not considered before it was signed off? Or at least before the build began?" they asked. "Stupidly obvious."

"The first thing I thought about when I saw this design was the birds," wrote Henry. "Maybe it should be re-rendered to include splatters and bird corpses...or just not built," they suggested.

For JZ, this all led to the simple conclusion that "humans are a horrible species".

Do you agree? Join the discussion ›

"Yes yes yes. At last. This is the holy grail"

Also stirring up interest in the comments section was an interview with former Ferrari-designer Lowie Vermeersch about Komma, a new type of micro vehicle designed to take up less space on roads and use less materials to manufacture.

Some readers were on board with the idea. "With climate change, there could be a huge paradigm shift in personal and public transportation," mused Dik Coates.

Adrian James was impressed by the design, declaring "yes yes yes. At last. This is the holy grail". Colin MacGillivray agreed and dubbed it "the future of urban transport".

However, on the other side of the argument, Marc Sicard wrote "almost as much material as a car for the same functionality as a bike". They concluded, "ridiculous, and no thanks".

Could this be the future of urban transport? Join the discussion ›

Comments Update

Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page and subscribe to our weekly Debate newsletter, where we feature the best reader comments from stories in the last seven days. 

The post "What a mess, I love it" says commenter appeared first on Dezeen.

Mass Studies founder Minsuk Cho has been announced as the designer of this year's Serpentine Pavilion and the first visuals of his design revealed.

Named Archipelagic Void, the pavilion is set to open in London's Kensington Gardens in June 2024 and will be Seoul-based Korean architect Cho's first building in the UK.

The 23rd pavilion will consist of five structures, described as "islands", arranged in a star shape around a central, circular void. It was informed by small courtyards named madangs that are found at the centre of historic Korean houses.

According to Cho, who leads Korean studio Mass Studies, the building's design was informed by the site's history and an investigation of the previous 22 pavilions that have been built on the site.

"We began by asking what can be uncovered and added to the Serpentine site, which has already explored over 20 iterations at the centre of the lawn, from a roster of great architects and artists," said Cho.

"To approach this new chapter differently, instead of viewing it as a carte blanche, we embraced the challenge of considering the many existing peripheral elements while exploring the centre as a void."

"It also begins to address the history of the Serpentine Pavilion," he added. "By inverting the centre as a void, we shift our architectural focus away from the built centre of the past, facilitating new possibilities and narratives."

Each of the five structures arranged around the void will be designed to have a separate function. The structure directly facing the Serpentine Gallery building will be designed as an entrance.

Alongside it, the Auditorium will act as a gathering area, there will be a small Library and Tea House, while the largest structure called The Play Tower will have netted walls.

Cho is best known internationally as the co-curator of the Golden Lion-winning Korean pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Other projects designed by Mass Studies include the Republic of Korea Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 and the Songwon Art Centre.

Cho's pavilion follows Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh's circular timber pavilion last year and artist Theaster Gates' Black Chapel in 2022.

The prestigious commission has been running since 2000 when the late Zaha Hadid designed the first pavilion. Since then, the pavilions have been built by architects including Frida Escobedo, Bjarke Ingels and Sou Fujimoto.

The renders are by Mass Studies.

The post Minsuk Cho reveals star-shaped 2024 Serpentine Pavilion appeared first on Dezeen.

An exhibition at the Plateau gallery in Seoul documents the career of Mass Studies founder Minsuk Cho, the architect behind the Golden Lion-winning Korean pavilion at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale (+ slideshow).

Cho founded Mass Studies in 2003, following periods working at OMA in Rotterdam and Polshek and Partners in New York, and having already spent five years co-running a New York firm with former partner James Slade.

The exhibition, Before/After Mass Studies Does Architecture, offers an overview of the Korean architect's projects since then, from his headquarters building for internet company Daum to a steel-clad art centre in Songwon and the alphabet-themed Korea Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010.

The main bulk of the exhibition is divided up into two rooms, categorised as the "before" and "after" of Cho's architecture. The first is dedicated to the design process, while the second concentrates on the final presentation of buildings.

Highlights include the Ring Dome, a pavilion first erected on a New York traffic island, which has since travelled to Japan and Italy. Made up of rings of light, it frames a small events area.

The show also includes an array of scale models, drawings and photographic collages, depicting projects that encompass the Southcape golf clubhouse, the O'Sulloc Tea Museum pavilions and the grey-brick Pixel House.

The exhibition continues until 1 February 2015 at Plateau – part of the Samsung Museum of Art.

Photography is by Kyungsub Shin, except where otherwise specified.

The post Seoul exhibition puts Korean architect Minsuk Cho in the spotlight appeared first on Dezeen.

Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: in this exclusive interview with Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies, filmed moments after he collected the Golden Lion award for best pavilion, the architect explains how he hopes Korea's Venice Architecture Biennale pavilion will help North and South Koreans to reconnect.

"I hope this will really trigger the reality that we have been hoping to create," says Cho. "Our wish has been widely exposed and many others sympathise. This honour is incredible, I hope this is a good beginning."

The South Korean pavilion at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, which Cho curated, aims to demonstrate the potential of a unified Korea by bringing together almost 40 projects from both cultures.

Cho had originally intended to involve North Koreans in the project, but was unable to make contact with people on the other side of the border in time for the exhibition. Instead, he invited contributors from around the world to participate in what he describes as a huge "research project".

"It was important to engage both Koreas, which have been divided for 69 years," Cho explains. "We made several attempts for six months to contact and invite North Koreans [to take part in the show] through people who so willingly became our messengers and bridges and mutual friends. So in the end this exhibition is a result of that and I'm very happy to present this group of people, which could be a really exciting start."

The exhibition is split into four main themes: how architecture has been used to create national identity after the Korean War; the architecture of the state; the North/South border that divides the peninsular; and an area dedicated to travel, film and cultural production in North Korea.

"Each fragment is fascinating on its own, but I think the way we composed it also creates an interesting chemical reaction," Cho says. "A lot of things are unspoken here. There are lots of mysteries, a sadness even."

Despite the vast amount of material exhibited within the pavilion, Cho says the absence of the involvement of North Koreans themselves is keenly felt.

"Our exhibition looks so chaotic and packed but it feels so empty," he says. "Someday we'll look back at this – maybe together with the North – and have a good laugh at how we could put together such an ignorant exhibition."

Cho is hopeful that the exhibition will encourage South Koreans to make contact and reconnect with the North.

"I would like to have it as a message for both nations," he says. "It's a small demonstration, a small step, about how creative people can create contact."

Photography by Luke Hayes.

Follow Dezeen's coverage of the Venice Architecture Biennale »

The post Golden Lion award for Korean pavilion could help "trigger the reality" of a unified Korea appeared first on Dezeen.

Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: the Korean Pavilion curated by Mass Studies founder Minsuk Cho has been awarded the Golden Lion for best pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014.

The exhibition, entitled Crow's Eye View: The Korean Peninsula, aims to demonstrate the potential of a unified Korea by bringing together and interrogating the architecture of both cultures.

The jury applauded the project for presenting "a rich body of work in a highly charged political situation".

"It is research-in-action, which expands the spatial and architectural narrative into a geopolitical reality," said the jury.

Cho discussed the pavilion in an interview with Dezeen yesterday. "The trick is to actually look back to work to move forward," he said. "And this was a fascinating task within the timeframe – a very monumental one."

The runner-up, receiving the Silver Lion, is the Chilean Pavilion for the exhibition Monolith Controversies, which the jury praised for its focus on one element – a prefabricated concrete wall – used to highlight the role of modern architecture in different ideological and political contexts.

Three special mentions go to Canada, France and Russia.

A Silver Lion was also awarded to Spanish architect Andrés Jaque for his project Sales Oddity. Milano 2 and the Politics of Direct-to-home TV Urbanism – part of the Monditalia exhibition at the Arsenale.

Follow Dezeen's coverage of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014 »

Read more about Korea's Golden Lion-winning pavilion »

The post Korea wins Golden Lion for best pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale appeared first on Dezeen.

Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: Mass Studies founder Minsuk Cho curates an "epic-scale show about both Koreas" with one of the most politically ambitious projects at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale (+ interview + slideshow).

The South Korean pavilion hosts an exhibition involving almost 40 projects, which together aim to demonstrate the potential of a unified Korea by bringing together and interrogating the architecture of both cultures.

"The trick is to actually look back to work to move forward," explained Cho about his response to the brief from Rem Koolhaas, this year's biennale curator, who invited the international participants to create an exhibition around the theme Absorbing Modernity.

"Something we thought it important is to look a both parts of Korea because 100 years ago it wasn't the same, right? Because it was actually one entity, it was the beginning of Japanese colonisation," said Cho, who acted as both commissioner and co-curator of the pavilion alongside architectural historians and critics Hyungmin Pai and Changmo Ahn.

Cho had originally intended to involve North Koreans in the project, but this was fraught with complications.

"Until December actually, I was quite set on doing the work to engage them by sending love letters through various routes, because I cannot directly contact them," said Cho. "Then somehow that process organically grew into some quite intense global outreaching research project, because we had to find the right contacts and so on."

"It became quite an epic-scale show about both Koreas, about architecture in both Koreas – but not by both Koreas. I think we have 39 entries in this quite intricately urban scenario and, somehow a lot of things came out of the collaboration."

"There are no North Koreans. But they're the mediators, they're the windows that allow us to experience."

Titled Crow's Eye View: The Korean Peninsula, the exhibition features projects from international contributors focused around four main areas of research.

"Each one is like a bird, they have their own Crow's Eye View," said Cho. "Usually it will be a Korean gathering in a foreign pavilion, but this has become something else. It's not only about architecture: among 39 of them, only 19 are architecture, urbanists, architecture theorists and people from our display. The rest is all through different disciplines such as art and filmmaking."

The first area, called Reconstructing Life, is largely photography-based and looks at the different ways architecture has been used to create national identity after the Korean War in both Pyongyang and Seoul.

Monumental State examines the architecture of the state. While the North Korean architect is given the task of building a socialist society, architects are not celebrated as authors of their work which is instead credited to the state's leader, explained the curators. While in South Korea, the idea of individual creativity is celebrated but architects working on public projects are in thrall to bureaucracy and capitalism.

The third area centres on the North/South border – the "most radically mediated, the most militarised and the most politically charged boundary in the world". Among the exhibits is a topographical depiction of a mountain that was a key battle site during the Korean War, showing the tunnels built underneath ground level used by the North Korean army.

The final area, called Utopian Tours, is comprised of a selection of images from the collection of Nick Bonner, the co-founder of Beijing-based company Koryo Group, which is dedicated to travel, film and cultural production in North Korea. This includes the comic strip A Day of an Architect and a series of images depicting environments for tourism called Commissions for Utopia, both of which have been produced specifically for the pavilion and created by anonymous North Korean artists and architects.

The roof features a series of poems written in the 1930s by Yi Sang, "a young architect dropout who was only 24 years old – a beatnick Dadaist-influenced Korean poet who died three years later, so he never experienced division," said Cho. The exhibition takes its name from one of these poems.

The South Korean pavilion is one of the most recent structures on the Venice Biennale's Giardini site. Its architect, Seok Chul Kim, originally proposed using the structure to also host North Koreans, although this has yet to happen. If it worked as intended, Cho said the pavilion could "generate a new reality".

"This is what I think this creative discipline culture here can do, allow us to look into it and come up with ways to engage in ways that politicians cannot come up with," said Cho.

Here's an edited transcript from our interview with Minsuk Cho:

Minsuk Cho: I'm an architect mainly but I took the role of being a commissioner, which kind of evolved into the role of being a curator with two other curators for this exhibition.

Anna Winston: How was the the experience of putting together the pavilion?

Minsuk Cho: When I started out last April I never thought I would end up at this point, but we clearly understood the environment as [wanting us] to look back. The trick is to actually look back to work to move forward. And this was a fascinating task within the timeframe – a very monumental one. Something we thought is important to look a both parts of Korea because 100 years ago it wasn't the same, right? Because it was actually one entity, it was beginning of the Japanese colonisation. So the idea was initially to engage North Koreans.

Until December actually, I was quite set on doing the work to engage them by sending love letters through various routes, because I cannot directly contact them, as you probably know. Then somehow that process organically grew into some quite intense global outreaching research project in a way, because we had to find the right contacts and so on.

Then it became quite an epic-scale show about both Koreas, about architecture in both Koreas – but not by both Koreas. I think we have 39 entries in this quite intricately urban scenario and, somehow a lot of things came out of the collaboration, there are only 18 of them who are South Koreans. Twenty-one of them are non-South Koreans but there are no North Koreans. But they're the mediators, they're the windows that allow us to experience. Each one is like a bird, they have  their own Crow's Eye View.

Anna Winston: Where does the exhibition get its title from?

Minsuk Cho: It's the title of the serial of poems that was written in 1934 by a young architect dropout who was only 24 years old – a beatnik Dadaist-influenced Korean poet who died three years later, so he never experienced division.

But this was a series of seemingly disjointed poems and you're going to see on the roof some of the examples. It's become a metaphor and also at the same time it's become kind of a framework of this epic-scale narrative created by this hush-hush defragments in a way. So for us, each piece is fascinating, but also it tells a lot more stories what is in-between those things. There are some funny punchlines, there are certain things that cannot be said, certain things that are abysmal mysteries in there and emptiness as well. Hopefully this will at least suggest some king of excitement, demonstrating some sort of serious potential of how great it could be when the two meet one day. At this point I think this is a great opportunity to make today's opening like a festive event, that's why we have 18 fake world flags that represent some world that we created. And eventually, maybe next year, maybe we can come with the two flags: North and South Korea. Who knows, it could turn into one flag.

There's a written interview with this architect who designed this last pavilion in January and the reason why we actually were able to take this position as the last country to occupy Giardini was actually this idea that he proposed – together with great artists – to Massimo Cacciari the Mayor of Venice [from 6 December 1993 – 30 April 2000] that we will host North Koreans, so that it becomes much more important then, not just in our show but in all of the architecture show. It could really generate new reality.

Anna Winston: It's quite an ambitious thing to do to try and unite the two countries through an exhibition.

Minsuk Cho: It didn't work out but I think we created some incredibly important camaraderie between these interesting people. Usually it will be a Korean gathering in a foreign pavilion, but this has become something else. It's not only about architecture: among 39 of them, only 19 are architecture, urbanists, architecture theorists and people from our display. The rest is all through different disciplines such as art and filmmaking.

This is what I think this creative discipline culture here can do, allow us to look into it and come up with ways to engage in ways that politicians cannot come up with.

Anna Winston: Have you had a chance to see the rest of the biennale and the other pavilions?

Minsuk Cho: It's amazing, it's really charged and intense. Of course every pavilion has a wide-ranging way of addressing this issue and I think putting all these pieces of the puzzle together and seeing it in one place is really an opportunity. I wish they made this whole catalogue as a one-volume book – I collect those!

Anna Winston: Has Rem has been quite supportive of your project?

Minsuk Cho: Yes, absolutely. I'm very grateful. Also I'm grateful that it gives me the perfect platform to do something that I kind of wanted to do. My idea started out when I was designing the Shanghai Expo South Korean pavilion 2010 and there was a North Korean pavilion, because it was the first time North Korea was appearing at this festive event. I thought it would be at first curious but then something hit me: I didn't know how to react to it, but there were actually similarities there.

The South Korean pavilion idea was bringing Seoul as a pixelated cartoon map, a 3-D map, 1:300 scale version with a semi-covered structure. Then they had this much more humble scale building, but inside they brought Pyongyang in their own way. They did the pagodas and they had these pine trees – very representational but I thought 'wow, we thought of the same thing'. Some of the moment here captures that in a way, but we should be able to articulate that better later. The Korean peninsula could be much more cohesive sometime in the near future.

The post Mass Studies brings together North and South Korea with Venice biennale pavilion appeared first on Dezeen.

Our second project this week from South Korean studio Mass Studies is a series of cafe and exhibition pavilions scattered across the rocky grounds of a museum at the Seogwang Dawon tea plantation on Jeju Island (+ slideshow).

Mass Studies designed the trio of new buildings for the O'Sulloc Tea Museum, an exhibition centre dedicated to the history of Korea's traditional tea culture, and dotted them along a pathway winding between the main building and the surrounding green tea fields.

Unlike the circular form of the museum, the three pavilions were all designed as rectilinear volumes with similar sizes and proportions. Two are positioned on either side of a gotjawal - the Korean term for woodland on rocky ground - so that they face one another through the trees.

The first pavilion, named Tea Stone, is a two-storey concrete building that accommodates new exhibition spaces and a classroom where visitors can watch and participate in tea ceremonies.

Positioned close to the existing museum, the building has a polished dark concrete exterior that the architects compare to "a black ink-stone".

"The glossy black surface of the building reflects the surrounding environment, that is, the gotjawal forest and the sky, making it possible to exist and give a sense of heaviness and lightness simultaneously," they said.

Large expanses of glazing create floor-to-ceiling windows at both ends of the building, meaning anyone within the tea classroom can look out onto a still pool of water.

A shop and cafe building is the next structure revealed to visitors as they make their way across the grounds. Named Innisfree, the structure is glazed on all four sides to create views through to the tea fields beyond.

"Initially planned as a 'forest gallery,' the space was opened to the forest as much as possible, and designing all four walls with glass allows one to enjoy the scenic surroundings from any given spot," said the architects.

Timber panels clad the upper sections of the walls, but were left unmilled on one side to give a rough texture to the pavilion's facade.

Wooden ceiling rafters are exposed inside both Innisfree and Tea Stone, and help to support the saw-toothed roofs of the two buildings.

The last of the three pavilions is an annex containing staff areas, storage facilities and toilets. The walls of this building are made from stone, allowing it to camouflage against its surroundings.

Photography is by Yong-Kwan Kim.

Here's a project description from Mass Studies:

Osulloc

Context

The scenic landscape of Seogwang Dawon, its main attraction being the tea farm, is located in Jeju Island, at a mid-mountain level, in a gotjawal (traditionally, Jeju locals call any forest on rocky ground "gotjawal", but according to the Jeju Dialect Dictionary, "gotjawal" refers to an unmanned and unapproachable forest mixed with trees and bushes). The Osulloc Tea Museum, Tea Stone, Innisfree, and the Innisfree Annex are located at the northwestern side of the Seogwang Dawon tea fields, with the gotjawal to the north, and facing the green tea fields to the south.

The area is currently in the middle of a large scale development, where to the southeast the Shinhwa Historic Park is being developed, and to the southwest, the English Education City. The Aerospace Museum is immediately adjacent to the site to the northwest, and because of such surrounding developments, the road at the front of the site has been expanded into the 30m wide, Shinhwa Historic Road.

As for the walking tour course, the Jeju Olle-gil 14-1 course and the Jeoji-Mureung Olle approach the site from the green tea field on the other side of the road and leads to the northwestern side of the Osulloc Tea Museum, after passing through the front of Innisfree, across Tea Stone, and arrives at the 8km long 'Path of Karma (Inyeoneui-gil)', which starts from the Chusa-gwan (Hall) of Daejeong-Eub among 'Chusa Exile Path (Yubae-Gil)', and arrives at the Osulloc Tea Museum.

Tea Stone

Tea Stone, planned to accommodate additional functions, is immediately adjacent to the Osulloc Tea Museum, and is a simple box, extending 20.3 x 11m on the slope of a hill.

The main structure of this building, which connects to the Chusa Exile Path, a Jeju Olle trail, resembling a black ink-stone, is a polished black concrete mass. The glossy black surface of the building reflects the surrounding environment, that is, the gotjawal forest and the sky, making it possible to exist and give a sense of heaviness and lightness simultaneously.

From the rear exit of the Tea Museum, a 1m wide basalt path crosses a dry creek and connects to the basement level of the Tea Stone, into a dark space, where one can experience and learn about fermented teas. A narrow staircase leads up into a triangular space, the Chusa Exhibition Gallery, on the first floor. The Chusa Exhibition space acts as the front room of the tea classroom. It faces the Tea Museum to the west, and has a dark glass exterior façade, making visible the landscape outside, yet able to contain the soft interior lighting.

As one passes through this space and enters the tea classroom, where workshops and lectures take place, the preserved gotjawal forest is revealed through the glass facade. From the tea class space, the concrete walls of the Chusa Exhibition space act as pillars that support 10m long cantilevered concrete beams that form and shape the perimeter of the roof structure. Wooden rafters sit in a single direction within the structure of the concrete roof support, and makes up a saw-tooth type ceiling on the entire roof. This wooden ceiling provides a warm environment, and at the same time, allows for a soft reflection of natural light. The structure, without other support, allows for the tea classroom to have three glass sides, and it maximises the feeling of openness as continued out to the gotjawal forest. The fireplace to the north also adds warmness to the space.

Two sides of the tea classroom, the north and south, used a dark glass, and a clear transparent glass for the east window toward the Innisfree building located across the gotjawal. With a 42m wide gotjawal in between, the two buildings face each other, creating a silent tension and as well as directionality to ones gaze.

A shallow, polished black concrete pool sits adjacent to the glass window, reflecting the building and the forest, heightening an aura of tranquil stillness for the tea classroom.

Innisfree

Innisfree is located on the highest point of the hill, and is a rectangular building, with the same width as that of the Tea Stone. The two building face each other in axis with the gotjawal in-between.

Initially planned as a 'forest gallery,' the space was opened to the forest as much as possible, and in designing all four walls with glass allows one to enjoy the scenic surroundings from any given spot. The materials used for the interior finishes come from the surround natural environment, such as wood and basalt, so that the 34.8 x 11m store and café space functions as one with nature.

A wall made out of cut stone, flush flat on one side, sits at the entrance. Through the glass doors, one enters the Innisfree shop, and to the right is the café, and through the transparent, frameless glass window, one can take in a panorama of the landscape of the surrounding tea fields to the east.

A 3.5m wide deck along the front of the café, as well as the folding doors between the café and deck makes it possible to have all sides 'open', making it possible to eat, drink, and relax in nature.

A 6.3 x 5.3m basalt stone volume attached to the north side of the building includes a preparation room on the first floor, and stairs that lead down to the underground kitchen and mechanical rooms, etc., all to supplement the main café space.

Similar to the Tea Stone, the wooden rafters, in a saw-tooth type ceiling throughout the entire roof of Innisfree provides a warm atmosphere and soft natural light.

Along the upper portion of the southern façade is an awning made out of roughly cut shingles, blocking direct sunlight. The north, east, and west sides are finished with milled shingles. All four shingled surfaces will weather together, naturally, as time passes.

Innisfree Annex

The Annex Building holds facilities such as a warehouse and a bakery, etc. and was designed to be seen not as a building, but rather the backdrop to Innisfree. The exterior wall facing the green tea fields utilises a stone fence, a material that that comes from the existing land, and is to be seen as a continuation of an element of the surrounding landscape (Jeju Island is known for the scenic stone fences that mark property, paths, and undulate with its natural terrain).

The land is raised about 1.5m to reduce the 3.5m high stone fence (exterior wall) to mimic the natural topography. Three courtyard gardens are placed inside and outside of the Annex Building, and by planting tall trees, it minimises the presence of the building when viewed from outside. The end of the building closest to Innisfree is the public bathroom, and from there, in sequence are the bakery, the employees' dining hall, and the warehouse. To the rear of the stone fence, which sits symmetrically to the external wall of the bathroom, is the access and loading space for service vehicles.

Osulloc Extension

Providing more seating in the café, the extension was designed to minimise changes to the existing form and space, with a 3m-wide addition, following the curvature of the café space toward the north.

The interior extension utilises the existing curved windows, with the new exterior curve offset at a 3m distance, and was designed so that the extension is in harmony with the language of the existing building. Following this café extension, the length of the kitchen was expanded in the same direction, while the added cafe space is separate from the main circulation to allow for a space more quiet and calm. The new extension is faced with folding doors, and the entire space achieves a continuous flow to the landscape to the north, in fact becoming part of the outdoor space.

Osulloc: Tea Stone, Innisfree, Innisfree Annex
Design Period: 2011.06 - 2012.04
Construction Period: 2012.04-2012.12
Type: Commercial, Cultural
Location: Jeju, Korea

Architects: Mass Studies
Structural Engineer: TEO Structure
MEP Engineer: HANA Consulting & Engineers
Facade Consultant: FRONT Inc.
Lighting Engineer: Newlite
Landscape design: Seo Ahn Landscaping
Construction: Daerim Construction
Client: Amore Pacific

The post Mass Studies adds three pavilions to Korean tea museum appeared first on Dezeen.

Sweeping lengths of concrete create curving canopies around the perimeter of this golf clubhouse on South Korea's Changseon Island by Seoul architecture firm Mass Studies (+ slideshow).

The clubhouse was designed by Mass Studies to provide dining and spa facilities for the South Cape Owner's Club golf resort and it is located at the peak of a hill, where it benefits from panoramic views of the sea.

Described by the architects as being like "a pair of bars bending outward", the building's plan comprises a pair of curving single-storey blocks that are both sheltered beneath one X-shaped roof.

"The two curvatures of the building engage with specific moments of its immediate surroundings, hugging the existing context - the rocky hill to the east, and the vista out toward the cape to the west," said the designers.

The curving canopies follow the bowed walls of the two blocks, but also integrate a series of smooth folds that present dramatic changes between light and shadow.

"From a distance, the appearance of the clubhouse reads horizontal, demure, and subtle," explained the architects. "However, once in and around the clubhouse, one begins to have a dramatic experience through the perspectival exaggerations and the views framed by the illustrious canopy edges."

The western arm of the building accommodates the dining areas. A banqueting hall and restaurant are positioned at opposite ends of the block, and both feature fully glazed facades that open out to terraces around the perimeter.

In contrast with this transparent structure, the eastern wing of the clubhouse has an opaque concrete facade that maintains the privacy of club members using spa facilities, but brings light in through clerestory windows.

Areas for men and women are divided between the two halves of the block, but both lead out to private outdoor pools offering views of either the coastline or the distant landscape.

A patio is also sheltered beneath the roof to create an entrance for the clubhouse. There's a skylight in the centre to allow daylight to filter into the space, while a pool of water is positioned directly underneath.

Here's a project description from Mass Studies:

Southcape Owner's Club: Clubhouse

Located on Changseon Island in Namhae Province, at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, is a resort development - the Southcape Owner's Club - with several complexes that are strategically positioned throughout the dramatic topography of the archipelagic region.

The apex of the resort is the Clubhouse, which in plan is essentially a pair of bars bending outward. The two curvatures of the building engage with specific moments of its immediate surroundings, hugging the existing context - the rocky hill to the east, and the vista out toward the cape to the west. Simultaneously, the composition of the curved masses allow the building to also embrace what is to the north and south - a grand entry round-about, and a remarkable ocean view to the south, respectively.

An open central zone is formed, anchoring the entire complex in a culmination of an impressive entrance patio under a sculptural open-roof, a reflection pool directly below, and a spectacular framed view of the South Sea. To the east are the more private spa facilities, and to the west, the more public restaurant, private dining, and event facilities.

There is a contrast that takes place, not only programmatically, but also in materiality – solid vs. transparent. The spa area is mostly designed as a closed mass, with a slightly open 1m clerestory running along the entire length of the solid exterior walls and roof, progressing to a fully open release at both ends of the volume, which allows for an outdoor terraced bath for both the men's and women's spas with views out to the South Sea and waters beyond the landscape to the north. The dining areas are all glass-clad with extended perimeter terraces to all sides, offering a sense of openness out to the waters and landscape.

The sculpted roof of the Clubhouse is derived through a geometric rigour driven by the systematic structural organisation, which is a response to the three-dimensionality of the natural context. The depth of the curved steel beams are revealed, as if it were a vacuum-formed white concrete membrane, where a series of vaulted concrete canopies ultimately form an x-shaped, exploded circle in plan.

The 3m canopies that outline the entire roof not only function as a shading device, but follow the overall architectural language, as the edge conditions change in direction, up and down, from the north to the south side of the building. It adds to the sensuous movements that are portrayed throughout the building.

From a distance, whether from the deck of a boat afloat the South Sea, or from a distance in the rolling landscape of the island, the appearance of the Clubhouse read horizontal, demure, and subtle. However, once in and around the Clubhouse, one begins to have a dramatic experience through the perspectival exaggerations and the views framed by the illustrious canopy edges.

The Southcape Owner's Club Clubhouse is a seamless, continuous, and complete object in nature, with a shape in plan that creates a complex relationship with the surroundings, in rhyme with the ria coastline of the archipelagos that are unique to this region.

Type: Sports, Golf Clubhouse
Location: Namhae, Korea
Site Area: 23,066.16 sqm
Site Coverage Area: 7,955.98 sqm
Total Floor Area: 15,101.56 sqm
Building-to-Land Ratio: 34.49%
Floor Area Ratio: 20.39%
Building Scope: B2, 1F
Structure: RC, SC
Exterior Finish: White Exposed Concrete, Serpentino Classico, Travertine Navona, Broken Porcelain Tile
Interior Finish: Serpentino Classico, Travertine Navona, Solid Teak Wood, Venetian Stucco

Architects: Mass Studies
Structural Engineer: Thekujo
MEP Engineer: HANA Consulting & Engineers
Civil/Geotechnical Engineer: Korean Geo-Consultants Co. Ltd.
Lighting Engineer: Newlite
Landscape design: Seo Ahn Landscape
Construction: HanmiGlobal Co. Ltd.
Client: Handsome Corp.

The post Southcape golf clubhouse by Mass Studies features curving concrete canopies appeared first on Dezeen.

This ridged steel art gallery by South Korean studio Mass Studies has half of its floors buried underground while others balance on a pair of triangular pilotis (+ slideshow).

The Songwon Art Centre is located in Buk-Chon, a suburban district filled with traditional Korean Han-Ok houses, and the building is squeezed onto a steeply inclining site between two roads.

Mass Studies faced restrictions on the size of the new building and had no choice but to place some spaces below ground to maintain sight lines towards a neighbouring historic residence. "We neither wanted this project to become a compromise to the restrictions nor a mere negotiation between the contextual obligations," explained the architects.

In response, they planned restaurant and event spaces on the two upper floors, while two exhibition floors occupy the basement and a car parking level is slotted in between.

"We had to come up with a structural scheme that simultaneously lets us fit everything within the relatively small site and also lifts the building up," said the architects. "This composition allows the building to be seen as performing a 'silent acrobatic act,' slightly floating above ground while still staying close to it."

When approaching the building, visitors are faced with two large windows. A length of curved glazing offers a view into the restaurant while a triangular aperture faces down towards the entrance of the exhibition spaces. The architects describe this as a "sudden unexpected moment of vertigo" where "the entire height of the building suddenly presents itself".

A sloping roof angles up to follow the incline of the hill and features a large skylight to brings natural light into the upper floors. Louvres across the ceiling moderate this light, while voids in the floor plates help it to filter through the building.

Louvres also crop up on the exhibition levels, where they allow curators to adjust artificial lighting.

A surface of steel wraps the facade and is made of hundreds of vertical strips.

Seoul-based Mass Studies is headed up by architect Minsuk Cho. Past projects include the Xi Gallery in Pusan and the recently completed headquarters for internet company Daum.

See more architecture in South Korea »

Photography is by Kyungsub Shin.

Here's some more information from Mass Studies:

Songwon Art Centre

Buk-Chon, where Songwon Art Centre is located, is one of the few areas that were less affected by the heavy wave of development that has been sweeping through Korea since the fifties. The townscape is based on an irregular network of streets that weave through the area, where Han-Ok is the dominating architectural typology.

During the past 10 years Buk-Chon has seen lots of buzz primarily caused by the newfound interest of the public on the traditional townscapes. Han-Oks (traditional Korean houses) have become a subject of admiration again, and many commercial/cultural businesses have been brought into the area to take advantage of this setup. In this social context, it is consensual that any new development in the area intrinsically faces the challenge to simultaneously conserve existing values, and contribute in a new way to what already is.

Not surprisingly, with our project we faced numerous restrictions and conditions that were inherent to the site. The design development process took an unusual amount of time – as we neither wanted this project to become a compromise to the restrictions nor a mere negotiation between the contextual obligations. The design is a result of optimizing the parameters, sensitively reacting to the surrounding and simultaneously developing a rigorous logic.

A Pre-determined Shape

The site is an irregularly shaped piece of land, roughly 297 sqm in size, sitting in an entrance location to the Buk-Chon area when approached from the city center. The two adjacent roads meet in a sharp angle, with the main street sloping up towards the site. These situations give this small plot an unusually strong recognizability.

The massing of the building is largely limited by two conditions – the shape of the plot determined the plan of the building, and the adjacently located House of Yoon-Bo-Sun, a cultural heritage site, determined the elevation of the building to be cut in an angle in relations to sightline conservation. The volume trapped in these restrictive borders could only contain roughly two thirds of the maximum buildable floor area above ground (90% out of max. allowed 150% FAR). Therefore, much of the exhibition program had to be located below ground-level.

The resulting building is three floors below ground level and two floors above. The bottom two floors are used as an exhibition space, the semi-underground B1 level as parking, and the top two floors house a commercial restaurant and other social functions.

Structure - Silent Acrobat

Another condition with the site was the parking requirement – 7 spots needed to be provided within the plot area. The only way to suffice this condition was to designate a semi-underground level that is made accessible from ground level through the use of a piloti scheme. We had to come up with a structural scheme that simultaneously lets us fit everything within the relatively small site and also lift the building up. By making the piloti structure out of two triangular walls, forming half a pyramid, we were able to also house the entrance and staircase leading into the main space below ground within the structural element.

With the exception of the sloping roof, the aboveground mass is generally represented in a set of strictly horizontal or vertical concrete planes, forming a hard shell-like unibody structure. The Mass is then balanced on the aforementioned ‘half pyramid’ on one side, and a leaning column on the other. This composition allows the building to be seen as performing a ‘silent acrobatic act,’ slightly floating above ground – while still staying close to it.

Vertigo Moment, Two Windows at the Corner

In section, the building can be seen as two programs separated by the parking area – the social function of the restaurant above, and exhibition spaces below. As the sharp corner of the site is approached by pedestrians, one encounters two acrylic windows each revealing one of these two spaces – a curved, seamless window to the top, revealing the 7-11m high space to the above, and a triangular window within the base of the pyramid reveals the 8m space below, resulting in a sudden unexpected moment of vertigo as the entire height of the building (some 19 meters) suddenly presents itself.

Two kinds of Light Conditions

The two main volumes differ in the way they deal with lighting conditions. The underground volume needs to provide varying lighting conditions depending on the requirements of the exhibitions it houses – thus flexibility is essential, and the system relies heavily on artificial lighting. The exception is made in the entrance to the exhibition space, where the previously mentioned triangular skylight dramatizes the entry sequence by providing natural light into the vertical space. One may think of a skylight as an object that is looked at from below, but in this case the triangular window greets the visitors as an opening in the ground and then later changes its identity into a skylight as we descend into the gallery. We think of this as an adequate, surprising way to begin the gallery experience.

The walls of the social/ restaurant space above ground are mostly solid – with the somewhat limited exceptions of a few slits and small windows that were devised to provide ventilation and some amount of view towards the outside. The main source of lighting here is the skylight that takes up a large portion of the sloped roof – a response to the cultural heritage regulation from an adjacent building. The ceiling is composed of 3 layers of steel components – skylight frame, structure and louvers – each of these layers are oriented differently for a diffused lighting effect. The skylight itself is made of triple glazed panes with an embedded layer of expanded steel mesh which aids the process of primary sunlight filtering.

The steel louver system is applied to the ceilings of both the restaurant and exhibition spaces, albeit for different purposes. If the roof louvers were installed to control the daylight, the basement ceiling louvers were to add flexibility to the artificial lighting system. This gesture of using the same louver system in different ways was also to have the two spaces create a visual coherency.

The exhibition space has a polished concrete floor and white walls, whereas the more social restaurant space keeps the naturally exposed white concrete as its finished surface. The two spaces share a somewhat understated material and color scheme, but vary subtly according to the functions of the spaces.

Silent, but Unfamiliar Pleated Wall

It was suggested by the client that we use a material manufactured by a specific steel manufacturer – who is also an important supporter of Songwon Culture Foundation. This particular steel company has the technology to roll paint various colors and patterns onto rolled galvanized steel sheets. These products are commonly used as a reasonably priced exterior finishes, normally in a panel format.

With the help of the metal company we were able to apply a customized finish that resembles concrete or perhaps weathered zinc, in somewhat of a distressed tone. This finish was applied through the roll printing process and then these coloured Galvanized sheets were folded and cut into V shaped channels of 5 different widths – ranging from 3 to 7cm in 1cm increments. These channels wrap the exterior of the building forming a row of full height vertical strips, in a randomized array of the five different widths. Absent of horizontal breaks, this exterior finish gives an illusion of being casted in a single piece, rather than being an assembly of several smaller pieces. The intention was to have the building perceived as an ambiguous monolithic mass.

The resulting pleated texture, combined with the varying boundary conditions of the building plan – having straight and rounded portions - reacts with the natural lighting conditions in an unpredictable way and obscures the materiality and construction of the exterior. Here the building becomes ‘silent but unfamiliar.’

Above: site plan - click above for larger image

Above: top floor plan - click above for larger image

Above: upper ground floor plan - click above for larger image

Above: lower ground floor plan - click above for larger image

Above: upper basement floor plan - click above for larger image

Above: lower basement floor plan - click above for larger image

Above: section one

Above: section two

The post Songwon Art Centre by Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

South Korean firm Mass Studies has developed a system of five concrete modules for building South Korea's answer to California's Silicon Valley, starting with this flexible headquarters building for internet company Daum (+ slideshow).

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

Named Daum Space, the five-storey office building is the first completed building on a previously undeveloped site on the island of Jeju, where the company have chosen to relocate. The architects describe this as a "rebellious attempt to move away from the urban setting" of South Korea's cities and form a creative community "comparable to Silicon Valley".

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

Mass Studies has prepared a masterplan for the whole 800-metre-long development site, showing ten buildings lined up alongside a stretch of designated rural zones.

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

The 350-person Daum Space is positioned in the central section and demonstrates the construction system envisioned for each building in the complex.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

"We thought of a way to create a system of structure that could potentially serve as the grammar for the entire territory," explain architects Minsuk Cho and Kisu Park. "With these basic formal structures we were able to form various forms of vaulted or cantilevered spaces within large open planes, while also providing a way for the entire campus to grow organically to meet the unpredictable needs of the future."

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

The 8.4-metre-wide concrete modules appear in five variations and can be used to create column-free spaces with spans of over 12 metres, as well as cantilevered canopies up to 6 metres deep.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

The building is open on all four sides at ground floor level, revealing a series of social areas that include a cafe, an events space, a lounge and a games room.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

Open-plan offices cover the double-height first floor, which is overlooked from above by a mezzanine library.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

An auditorium is also located on the first floor, while smaller offices and meeting rooms can be found on the third and fourth storeys.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

Joints between the concrete modules also create small enclosed spaces at each level, where the architects have located bathrooms, staircases and elevators.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

Other projects we've featured by Mass Studies include a shop with green walls and a glazed exhibition centre. See more projects by Mass Studies.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

Here's some more text from Mass Studies:

Context

Daum is an international IT firm based in Korea, primarily known for its web portal services. Unlike its competitors that are typically located in metropolitan areas, Daum has been planning to relocate its operation to an undeveloped site within Jeju Province (an autonomous island situated off of the southern coast of Korea) for the past 8 years.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

Largely known as a major tourism hub, Jeju Province has been encouraging the implementation of other industries in the recent years, one of which is the development of the island's technology-based industrial complex.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

Considering the fact that the urban population of Korea has grown from 20% to over 80% in the last 50 years – which makes Korea one of the most urbanized countries in the world – Daum's radical step of exiling themselves to the rural Jeju Province can be framed as a utopian gesture, comparable to Silicon Valley of the late 70’s in America, as a rebellious attempt to move away from the urban setting to reinvent an independent, creative work community.

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

Another dilemma that urban workplaces face in the 21st century is that while the nature of the working organization is becoming more horizontal, the spaces are becoming vertical. Therefore, the generous conditions provided by Jeju Province counters this problem as an opportunity to imagine a new type of spatial organization to match Daum’s creative, horizontal working organization.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

Masterplan

Over the course of the next decade, Daum plans to gradually relocate its operations. For the development of the IT complex, Jeju Province has designated a vast, undeveloped land of 1,095,900 square meters on the island's northern mountainside, in close proximity to Jeju University. Daum's site, 300m wide and 800m long at its maximum, is the largest central plot within the development area, measuring 132,000 square meters and parallel to the main road in its longitudinal direction.

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

Given this scale, one can imagine Daum's complex built progressively over time, a masterplan growing organically across the site's green terrain. As a counteraction to the typical office park development – a homogeneous field of low-rise, non-contextual office blocks floating in a sea of parking lots – Daum's masterplan is designed as a linear growth, dividing the site into opposing rural vs. urban zones and informal vs. formal zones.

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

The urban zone will be defined by a dense, low rise, 70m wide and 800m long superstructure. This proposal allows functions to be optimized, supporting an efficient urban work zone – an “information superhighway,” symbolically as well as literally – and a vast area of park-like space dotted with facilities that will house community activities such as farming, sports, etc. Each of the buildings in the urban zone, no more than 5 floors high, are situated a floor level above the previous to accommodate the site's gradual 60m rise, taking advantage of this gentle, uniform slope to connect the facilities at different levels. This progressive alignment promotes movement across the site vertically, horizontally and diagonally, effectively increasing the efficiency and unity of the masterplan.

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

Daum Space: Formal Structure

During the design process, we thought of a way to create a system of structure that could potentially serve as the grammar for the entire territory. To formalize this notion, we designed five elementary structural modules of 8.4m by 8.4m with variations of extrusional or rotational attributes, to either extend or to end the structure as necessary. As a combination of these modules, the structure expands horizontally and vertically.

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

With these basic “formal structures,” we were able to form various forms of vaulted, or cantilevered spaces within large open planes, while also providing a way for the entire campus to grow organically to meet the unpredictable needs of the future.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

As a result, large spaces of 12.6m spans or 6.3m cantilevers are supported by vertical piers with small 3.8m spaces within them, creating a field of spaces of various degrees of size and enclosure.

Above: photograph is by Yong-Kwan Kim

As the first building within the masterplan, Daum Space is located near the center of the site, to provide the office space for the first 350 employees as well as other subsidiary functions.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

As a combination of these modules, we were able to design the Main Center as a five-storey building that is open on all four sides, allowing the scenic views – a nearby forest to the west, Halla Mountain to the south, and the ocean to the north – to penetrate into the interior, creating a favorable working environment.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

The ground floor serves the various shared / public functions. The cafeteria, an open lounge, a café, a small pavilion for Daum’s public relations purposes, a game room, a gym, and meeting rooms are located here, as well as an auditorium that is isolated from the work space.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

The inclined site meets the entrance road on the southern end of the 2nd floor, where one enters the auditorium. The main entrance to the building is located further into the site, with an outdoor space separating the two entrances. The 2nd floor is provided with a double floor ceiling height and the largest open plan work space, composed of the reception area, office spaces, and a block of conference rooms with a library above it as the 3rd floor.

Above: photograph is by Kyungsub Shin

As one progress upward to the 4th and 5th floors, the floor areas become smaller, allowing for more isolated, intimate office spaces, project rooms and conference rooms, together with outdoor terraces (of either wooden decks or grass).

Module shapes - click above for larger image

Inside the piers, which act as the vertical structural elements on all floors, are round or rounded rectangular spaces for various core services, HVAC, stairs, elevators, as well as programs such as smaller meeting rooms, restrooms, and lactation rooms.

Concept diagram - click above for larger image

As a result, Daum Space has systematic rigor, but by creating an array of spaces of various scales and qualities, it feels like a village without being picturesque, as a vertical/horizontal field of spatial experiences which anticipates further growth in the near future.

Basement plan - click above for larger image

Name and site of the project: Daum Campus Masterplan & Daum Space
Architects: Mass Studies - Minsuk Cho, Kisu Park
Design team: Mass Studies - Hyunjung Kim, Jisoo Kim, Sungpil Won, Nikolas Urano, Sebastien Soan, Junghye Bae, Jangwon Choi, Kwonwoong Lim, Youngjoon Chung, Bhujon Kang, Zongxoo U, Taehoon Hwang, Sangkyu Jeon, Younkyoung Shin, Vin kim, Daeun Jeong, Yuseok Heo, Kyungmok Park, Wonbang Kim, Jieun Lee, Sanghoon Lee, Songmin Lee

Ground floor plan - click above for larger image

Structural engineering: TEO Structure
MEP Engineer: HANA Consulting & Engineers
Lighting Engineer: Newlite
Landscape design: Soltos Landscaping

First floor plan - click above for larger image

Client: DAUM Communications
Construction: Hyundai Development Company
Construction Manager: Hanmi Global Co.

Second floor plan - click above for larger image

Location: Jeju Province, Korea
Site Area: 1,095,000 m2 (masterplan) / 48,383 m2 (daum space)
Site Coverage Area: 3,720.38 m2
Total Floor Area: 9,184.16 m2 (including basement floor)

Third floor plan - click above for larger image

Building-to-Land Ratio: 7.69%
Floor Area Ratio: 15.90%
Building Scope: B1F + 5F

Fourth floor plan - click above for larger image

Structure: RC
Finish: Exposed Color Concrete, Wood Deck, Vertical & Roof garden
Cost: 13,510,000EUR (20,000,000,000 KRW)

Roof plan - click above for larger image

Design phase (beginning and ending month, year): 2008.4 – 2010.6
Construction phase (beginning and ending month, year): 2010.7– 2011.11

Section A - click above for larger image

Section B - click above for larger image

Section C - click above for larger image

Section D - click above for larger image

The post Daum Space by Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

Architectural photographer Roland Halbe has sent us his photos of the Republic of Korea Pavilion at see all out stories about the expo here by Mass Studies.

Above and top photos are copyright Roland Halbe.

The building's form is made up of 20 letters from the Korean alphabet. More information about the design in our previous story.

Above photo is copyright Roland Halbe

See all our stories about Shanghai Expo 2010 in see all out stories about the expo here.

Above photo is copyright Roland Halbe

Here's some more information from the Expo organisers:

Pavilion Features

The three-story Republic of Korea Pavilion is composed of 20 basic letters of the ROK alphabet. The pavilion showcases blueprints of future cities along with the country's most advanced technology and traditional culture.

Pavilion Display

ROK's 2010 exhibit features a theme on "Friendly City, Colorful Life." The main exhibition area on the second floor is divided into four sections–culture, technology, humanity and nature, where visitors will experience the current and future urban life of the country.
Pavilion Highlights

Above photo is copyright Roland Halbe

Highlight 1: Hologram Guides, or "Virtual Friends"

Hologram Guides, or "Virtual Friends" One of the center pieces of the pavilion will feature four hologram guides, including a ROK fashion model, a foreign chef, a lady and an IT engineer. They represent the country's culture, humanity, nature and technology respectively. The "virtual friends" will guide visitors to different thematic exhibition halls, where visitors will experience the current and future urban life of the country.

Highlight 2: Mysterious U-type Channel, Power of Image

Mysterious U-type Channel, Power of Image Visitors will be greeted on the ground with a microscopic view of the capital city Seoul. The iconic buildings and mountains in the city will be shrunk 300 times. When visitors pass through the U-type channel, their images will be projected on the curve walls on both sides, as if they were flying in the sky, or rendering in the green world.
Highlight 3: Korean Style Carnival

Korean Style Carnival Multimedia exhibitions and traditional folk shows within the pavilion are directed by the famous Korean director Kim Seong Soo. The pavilion contains several waterscapes, and a large water stage, where visitors can take a rest and then enjoy the wonderful performances. The pavilion offers various wonderful performances, which include traditional celebration shows, Sino-Korean cultural exchange programs, Korean movie and TV festival, Korean parades and fashion shows.

See also:

.

	see all out stories about the expo here
More about this pavilion	see all out stories about the expo here	More photography stories

The post Republic of Korea Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 by Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

Shanghai Expo 2010: Architects Mass Studies have unveiled their design for the Korean pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

The shape of the pavilion will be derived from letters forms of the Korean alphabet, Han-geul.

Its surface will be covered in white panels with a relief of letters in four different sizes and around 40,000 aluminium panels decorated in bright colours by Korean artist Ik-Joong Kang.

The ground floor will house a 3D abstract map.

Mountains form seating for visitors and a five metre wide artificial stream cools the area, where visitors will wait to enter the exhibition.

This area will be shaded by the main structure of the pavilion, containing the exhibition space, suspended seven metres above.

The pavilion will include a large exhibition space, VIP lounge, press room, conference room, restaurant, administrative facilities and a roof garden.

Model photos by Kyehnyong Kwak.

Here's some more information from Mass Studies:

--

Context
The World Expo 2010, held in Shanghai, China, is expected to be the largest world expo to date. The theme of the exposition will be “Better City, Better Life,” and the event is to take place from May 1 until October 31, 2010, with more than 230 participating countries (48 of them having their own pavilions) to accommodate the 70 million expected visitors.

Site
The Korea Pavilion is situated in Zone A, directly neighboring the Japan Pavilion and the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, and in close proximity to the China Pavilion. The site is around 6000m2, and it is one of the largest lots within the Expo compound. Located on the perimeter of the zone, the site takes advantage of the views out towards the Huangpu River and the Shanghai skyline in the distance.

Concept
With land culture (China) and sea culture (Japan) surrounding the peninsula, Korea has been permeable to imported cultures and global influences, whose progressive mix defines contemporary Korean society. Using ‘convergence’ as the main theme, the Korea Pavilion is an amalgamation of ‘sign’ (symbol) and ‘space’: signs become spaces, and simultaneously, spaces become signs.

Sign as Space
Han-geul, the Korean alphabet, is the prime element of ‘signs’ within the pavilion. The overall volume, lifted 7.2m above ground level, is created by converging these Han-geul letters, allowing signs to create the exhibition space, and so that the visitors can experience their geometry through horizontal, vertical and diagonal movements. The primary geometries that compose the Han-geul letters are universal to other cultures, thus acting as a sort of ‘open’ set of signs that is engaging to everyone.

The exterior surfaces of the Korea Pavilion are clad in 2 types of pixels: Han-geul Pixels and Art Pixels. Han-geul Pixels are white panels with a relief of letters in four different sizes whose combination forms the majority of the exterior, mainly the peripheral surfaces. Most of the non-peripheral surfaces are composed of Art Pixels, which are 45cm x 45cm aluminum panels created by a Korean artist, Ik-Joong Kang, who is renowned for creating massive art walls out of small hand-painted tiles, either self-produced or by gathering from around the world (thus being another type of convergence). About 40,000 of these panels will texture the façade, contributing a bright palette of colors, hope, and unity throughout the Korea Pavilion.

The surfaces will project different atmospheres during the day and night, with light and shadows creating different textures. Sequential lighting is installed behind the Hangeul Pixels to highlight the individual letters on the exterior façade at night, further animating the pavilion as a sign (like a text message) on a larger scale.

Space as Sign
By understanding a map to be a type of a sign that depicts space, we’ve translated the ground level piloti space as a sign, by making an abstract 1/300 scale 3D map of a characteristic Korean city as its surface. The rest of the building, containing the exhibition space, is suspended 7m above to create a 40m x 77m free, open space generated by the map.

The map becomes a semi-exterior landscape that expresses the converging of mountains, water, and a dense metropolitan area, as exemplified by Seoul, the national capital. This ground floor is shaded by the main volume and additionally cooled by the a replica of a river (modeled after the Han River) flowing from one corner to the other as a 5m wide, 79m long artificial stream, while the notable mountains become stages/seating/spaces for the visitors to enjoy shows while queued in line to enter the exhibition space above, to improve the typical inverted condition that most visitors spend more time waiting than experiencing the exhibition itself. There is also a series of LFD monitors, a large LFD screen and two water screen projections to assist the interaction with the visitors.

Program
Upon entering the second level of the pavilion, the floor opens up to a gigantic 3,700m2 exhibition space, that is enclosed in complete darkness, to provide a controlled environment for the exhibition. We take advantage of the space by opening it up as an open flat plane, to be able to handle an extremely heavy load of visitor traffic. The level above contains the VIP Lounge, Press Room, Conference Room, and programs for the staff and administration. On the opposite end of the exhibition space (at the north-western side of the building) is a restaurant with its own self-operating circulation, and an access to a roof garden that overlooks the Huangpu River and Shanghai’s skyline

More Dezeen stories about Expo 2010:

.

Austrian pavilion by Span and Zeytinoglu

Danish pavilion by BIG

Polish pavilion by Wojciech Kakowski, Natalia Paszkowska and Marcin Mostafa

UAE pavilion by Foster + Partners

British pavilion by Thomas Heatherwick

The post Korean Pavilion at Expo 2010 by Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

Architects MAD have revealed a masterplan created when they invited 11 young architecture practices - including BIG, JDS, Mass Studies, Serie and Sou Fujimoto Architects - to design conceptual projects for Huaxi city centre in Guiyang, China.

The architects took part in a three-day workshop in Huaxi last summer and each provided an independent design for part of the masterplan. The masterplan was developed by MAD in collaboration with Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Studio 6.

"The city is no longer determined by the leftover logic of the industrial revolution (speed, profit, efficiency) but instead follows the ‘fragile rules’ of nature," say MAD.

"This urban experiment is not intended as an idealized urban reality, but as an attempt to push these trends to their purest forms, with all of the benefits and problems that this brings."

Here's some more information from MAD:

--

YOUNG INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTS COLLABORATE TO
DESIGN HIGH-DENSITY URBAN NATURE IN CHINA

In 2008, MAD organized and invited 11 young international architects to carry out an urban experiment: to design the Huaxi city centre of Guiyang, in South Western China. The architects invited by MAD included: Atelier Manferdini (USA), BIG (DENMARK), Dieguez Fridman (ARGENTINA), EMERGENT/Tom Wiscombe (USA), HouLiang Architecture (CHINA), JDS (DENMARK/BELGIUM), MAD (CHINA), Mass Studies (KOREA), Rojkind Arquitectos (MEXICO), Serie (UK/INDIA), Sou Fujimoto Architects (JAPAN). The masterplan was developed by Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Studio 6, together with MAD.

In the past 15 years, around 10 billion sqm of built space has been created in the urban areas of China. In 20 years time, another 200 to 400 new cities will be built. Until now, the results of this overwhelming urbanization have been defined by high-density, high-speed and low-quality duplication: the urban space is meaningless, crowded and soulless. Below: Atelier Manferdini

Are we going to continue copying the skyline of Western cities created over a hundred years of industrial civilisation? Will Manhattan and Chicago continue to be our model city, even after 15 years of urban construction in China? Is there an alternative future for our cities that lies in the current social condition, where new technologies leave the machine age behind, and where the city increasingly invades the natural space? Based on an Eastern understanding of nature, this joint urban experiment aims to explore whether we can use new technologies and global ideas to reconnect the natural and man-made world.

The site of Huaxi is famous for its dramatic and beautiful landscape, as well as a diverse mix of minority cultural inhabitants during its history. Its future is defined by the local government’s urban planning as a new urban centre for finance, cultural activities and tourism. MAD brought the young architects together here in the summer of 2008, for a 3-day workshop to create an experimental urban vision for Huaxi. Below: BIG

Each architect provided a unique design for a single part of the masterplan, based on their own understanding and interpretation of the local natural and cultural elements. The result is a series of organic individual buildings, growing from the natural environment, and working together to produce a compound of diverse urban activities. In this high density urban environment, the limits of urbanization are controlled and set by nature; the buildings take on the dynamic topography of the site, touching the landscape in a more interactive way.

Generic verticality is replaced by a complex taxonomy of urban activities, defined by a multiplicity of connections, detours and short cuts. The natural and the artificial are fused together, revealing an image of a future architecture. The ecological method here is not just focused on saving energy; rather, the goal is to create a new, balanced urban atmosphere which can evoke the feeling of exploring the natural environment. The city is no longer determined by the leftover logic of the industrial revolution (speed, profit, efficiency) but instead follows the ‘fragile rules’ of nature.

This collaborative experiment thus provides an alternative, responsive model for the development of the urban centre: a man-made symbiosis, in harmony with nature, in which people are free to develop their own independent urban experience.

China has become the global laboratory for urbanization, where the logical endpoint of current architectural trends can be seen, and the effects of leaving private developers to create cities can be most keenly felt. This urban experiment is not intended as an idealized urban reality, but as an attempt to push these trends to their purest forms, with all of the benefits and problems that this brings. MAD is aware of, and actively encouraging, the failings and successes of this project. Below: Dieguez Fridman

Below: Emergent

Below: HouLiang Architecture

Below: JDS

Below: MAD

Below: Mass Studies

Below: Rojkind Arquitectos

Below: Serie

Below: Sou Fujimoto Architects

The post Huaxi city centre by MAD and others appeared first on Dezeen.

Proposals by architects MAD, BIG, INABA, and Mass Studies for an urban plan for the city of Ansan in South Korea are on show at the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art in Ansan.

Each of the four projects is meant to be viewed at two scales - as proposals for monumental buildings in the city and as furniture in the gallery where they are displayed. Top image: Rendered site view of new Ansan city plan.

"The project is a response to the current economic climate, where even the most hyped and hubristic projects can be cancelled or downsized at a moment’s notice," say MAD. "These four scalable proposals demonstrate architecture that can be useful at any scale, and with any budget."

The exhibition continues until 15 February 2009.

Above: Walk This Way by INABA. "Walk This Way is a wayfinding device impersonating a building. It is an architectural beacon that directs traffic to Ansan’s attractions: one arrow points people in the direction of the development area proposed by BIG INABA MAD MASS, the other points inhabitants to city’s center."

Above and below: Urban Porosity by BIG. "A shifting stack of building blocks constitutes a two faced architectural structure. One side an inhabitable bookshelf, on the other a new urban landscape for Ansan."

Watch a movie about the project here. Here's some more information from MAD:

--

BIG INABA MAD MASS
Four Proposals for Ansan,
Jeffrey Inaba, Minsuk Cho
Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan City, Korea

Organized by Hong-hee Kim, Hyun Jeung Kim, Jeffrey Inaba

Four architecture offices, BIG, INABA, MAD, and Mass Studies have proposed an urban plan for Ansan, South Korea which will be exhibited at the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art in Ansan City beginning 17 December 2008.

The joint project by the four firms, BIG (Copenhagen), INABA (Los Angeles), MAD (Beijing), and Mass Studies (Seoul) uses versatile architectural forms that change in size and use. The principals of the four offices, Jeffrey Inaba, and Minsuk Cho reinterpret the term ‘economies of scale’ to mean the value of a single architectural form that functions at several scales. The works are adaptable enough so that the same form can be enlarged or shrunk and still function as a building. They have the added capacity to dramatically change in size and transform in use from building to furniture to toy.

Given today’s economic instability, the architects propose an architecture that can be sized to accommodate changes in available funding. The forms have been developed so that if a project’s investment capital decreases, it can be scaled down; alternatively, if greater financing becomes available, the same form can be scaled up. These firms believe architecture does not have to be inhabitable and in tune with the human scale at just one size; it can be conceived with greater utility in mind so that the form can be enjoyed even when reduced or increased by 40, 50, or 60 percent. In the context of the exhibition, they have taken the idea of scalability further by developing works that function even when scaled 1,000 and 10,000 percent.

Above and below: Beautiful Minds by  MAD. "An artificial and intelligent response to Ansan’s natural environment. At the urban scale, a cultural pyramid topped with inspiration pods suspended high above the city. At the scale of furniture, a place to sit, read, and learn, with the tentacles providing a different kind of illumination."

At the invitation of the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art (GMoMA), the offices designed a master plan and a set of four buildings in the city where the museum is located. The plan for a riverfront area of Ansan, a city of 550,000 inhabitants located near Seoul, includes housing, commercial, retail and municipal spaces. The proposed buildings which range in height from 80 to 400 meters and in length up to 1500 meters are displayed in the museum lobby in drawings, animations and four large models.

As an experiment in the economies of scale, the models are also designed as inhabitable objects in their own right. Each model of their urban plan is a furniture piece of their lobby plan. The three-dimensional representations of the buildings function as elements of GMoMA’s interior serving as a new bookshop, a set of seats and tables, a lounge area, and a reception kiosk. As a third variation, the forms will be produced at an even smaller scale as a reading lamp, light fixture, puzzle, and toy.

Architects have throughout time promoted their work through objects that are analogous to their designs for buildings. The architectural model helps audiences to visualize and appreciate a proposed building and in turn generate excitement, anticipation and demand for the project before it is built. In that sense, architecture has always been a practice of advertising scaled versions of itself. BIG INABA MAD MASS attempts to add another level of utility and promotion to this time tested practice by having the large-scale proposal advertise the small-scale version of the same form. The show’s architectural models have been made to draw interest in the urban plan while the urban plan was made to invite visitors to experience the works displayed in the show.

Above and below: Mutated Slabs and Robotic Towers by MASS Studies. "Radically different functional forms - mutated slabs and robotic towers - create spatial diversity and playfulness within the museum lobby. The larger picture presents two new urban typologies that shape an urban identity for an Ansan  futurama."

Bjarke Ingels Group – BIG - is a Copenhagen based group of over 60 architects, designers, builders and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development.
INABA is a Los Angeles-based firm founded by Jeffrey Inaba that specializes in transforming cultural research into urban design and architecture.

MAD is a Beijing-based architectural design studio dedicated to creating innovative projects that combine a sophisticated design philosophy with advanced technology in the areas of architectural design, landscape design and urban planning.
Mass Studies was founded by Minsuk Cho in Seoul as a vehicle to critically investigate architecture in the context of mass production, intensely over-populated urban conditions and other emergent cultural niches.

Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art
Ansan City, Korea
Exhibition Dates: 17 December 2008 to 15 February 2009
For visitor information go to: www.gmoma.org
Tel. +82 (0) 31 481-7000

The post Ansan urban plan by MAD, BIG, INABA and Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

Korean architects Mass Studies have designed an extension to Seoul City Hall.

The new building will incorporate a symphony hall, office space and a central public courtyard.

Here's some more information from Mass Studies:

--

New Seoul City Hall: Unity and Multiplicity

This proposal is an attempt to unify the old Seoul City Hall and the new Seoul City Hall to create “one” space that is also at the same time of “many,” as an opportunity to create an architectural and urban embodiment of unity and multiplicity that is required by contemporary democracy in a most tangible way.

To achieve Unity and Multiplicity simultaneously through architecture, the new Seoul City Hall should establish a single identity as a complex, while sensitively maintaining respect to the iconic old City Hall structure and drawing from the diverse urban context the site’s full potential. Hence, the new proposal should be formed by the complex conditions that have existed within and beyond the site.

The new Seoul City Hall that is the spatial result of combining potentials will not only synthesize the past and the present, but define what is “public” in a completely new way. The purpose of this proposal is for the new City Hall to create a continuity with Seoul’s six hundred year old history while co-existing harmoniously with the larger future of the 21st century and beyond; to help create an identity that the diverse 10 million-plus citizens of Seoul can share.

Spatial Layout Strategy

City Hall ‘Madang’ (Courtyard)

‘City Hall Madang’ (courtyard) at the center of the complex can connect and unite all of the diverse programs along the perimeter of varying heights. Since Madang can be approached from all directions within the site and is accessible to all as a public urban lobby, it is the most public of spaces inside the complex. This Madang will not only be an iconic open space defined by the old and new City Hall, but also function as a unique urban catalyst for social activities of Seoulites. Madang will be linked powerfully to an iconic public space, Seoul Plaza to the south, and present another iconic three-dimensional space that contrasts with the Seoul Plaza’s flatness.

Symphony Hall

The Symphony Hall, the most public of the programs, will be located on the four story podium on the northwestern side facing Sejongro in the new City Hall extension. The Hall will contribute a new element that corresponds to the larger context of Sejongro with its significant public spaces, such as Gyeongbok Palace, Duksoo Palace, and the Sejong Cultural Center. The Hall’s foyer will be located on the site’s prominent northwestern corner and act as another entrance to Seoul City Hall.

Office Towers

Offices, the largest program element, will be contained in two connected towers of different heights on the northeast corner of the site.By placing the towers as far as possible within the site from the existing City Hall, this layout avoids overshadowing the old building’s iconic stature. Its two-tower composition functions as one, yet is articulated into two towers 82.4m (18 storeys) and 107.3m high (24 storeys)—another way to prevent overpowering the old City Hall with one large vertical mass while maintaining harmony with surrounding office towers of similar scale. Moreover, this layout creates a functional and spatial urban continuity by internalizing the characteristics of surrounding high-rise buildings located along the northern and eastern streets appropriately.

An iconic building that represents “Place” rather than “Object”

Seoul, against other fast-developing metropolises in Asia, is currently at fierce competition to raise an iconic structure to represent the city globally. The majority of these cases attempt to resolve this issue by creating a sculptural object of powerful aura, but this method remains effective only if there is suitable urban context to support and justify the addition. The specificity of Seoul near the City Hall causes discrepancy with this iconic approach, due to the complexity and the fast, compressed developmental nature (which becomes a common trait among contemporary Asian urban conditions).

The new Seoul City Hall has thus far struggled, trying to incorporate a strong object-based architecture, and therefore had not been received with empathy due to it’s rejection of—and from—the site. Additionally, there had not been a clear enough vision to engage the old iconic City Hall building with the new structure which would inevitably be overpowering in scale. Therefore, we are suggesting an alternative proposal that focuses on remaining respectful to the underlying context of the old structure and its vicinity, to optimize their conditions and enhance their advantages by becoming an ensemble that is unobstructively synthesized.

As a result from our previously stated strategies of unity and multiplicity, the space that works as a “place” rather than an “object” is the City Hall Madang, the courtyard space.

Our proposal for the City Hall is not an object-based architecture that is quick to reveal all of its virtues from several kilometers away, but a spatial experience that is fully integrated into the city to be re-discovered as a ‘place.’ The exterior forms an appropriate composition with the surroundings, with unique and inviting urban elements as a unified whole from all sides. If the existing City Hall building could be generalized as a façade, or simply, a single face, then the new proposal could be understood as a continuing array of faces whose dynamic quality would draw the people in from all directions.

Once they are inside, they will be submerged into the strong, central outdoor space of the Madang, re-defining the space as a dynamic interaction of public functions. Through this Madang, the City Hall will become one, while the exterior is composed of multiple traits to embrace different types of people, and thus interact with each of their daily lives. This is the vision that we have for the multiplicity and unity of the new Seoul City Hall.

Building Summary:

Project Name: SeoulCity Hall Extension Design Competition

Location: Taepyeong-Ro, 1-31, Junggo, Seoul

Zoning: Commercial District, Central Aesthetic Zone, Fire Prevention zone

Site area: 12,709.4 ㎡

Total building area: 94,398.1㎡

Site coverage area: 7,520.7㎡

Site coverage ratio: 59.17% (Regulation 60%)

Floor-area ratio: 486.07% (Regulation 600%)

Structure: SRC+RC

Scope: 24F, B5

Height: 107.3M (Regulation 110M)

Finish: Double Glazed Low-E Glass, Granite Stone, Acid Etched Aluminum Plate

Parking: 124 (8 Handicap)

Landscapeing area: 2,087.44㎡

Public land area: 1,286.74㎡

Architects:Mass Studies Minsuk Cho (Principal), Kisu Park (Partner), Joungwon Lee (Associate), Hyunseok Jung (Project Manager), Vin Kim(Project Manager), Joonhee Lee (Project Manager), Hyunjung Kim (Senior Designer), Ranhee Kim (Senior Designer), Jongseo Kim (Senior Designer), Sangkyu Jeon (Senior Designer), Bumhyun Chun (Senior Designer), Chungwhan Park, Jisoo Kim, Wonbang Kim, Sungpil Won, Jieun Lee, Moonhee Han, Jangwon Choi, Dongwon Yoon, Jonas Eppen

Consulting Engineer:Ove ARUP & PartnersRory McGowan(Project Director), Chas Pope(Project Manager/Structural Engineer), Fei Tong(Structural Engineer), Joan Luo(Structural Engineer), Henry Huang(MEP Engineer), Frederick Wong(Building Physics Engineer), Antony Ho(Building Physics Engineer), Hang Zhao(Support)

Local Structural Adviser: The Structural Engineering Co.

Local MEP Adviser: Hana Consulting Engineers Co.

The post New Seoul City Hall by Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 08: New York art and architecture gallery Storefront for Art and Architecture will present Ring Dome in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan next month, during the furniture fair.

The temporary pavilion, designed by Korean architect Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies and built of hula hoops, is a new version of the one constructed in New York last autumn to celebrate Storefront's 25th anniversary (see photos below).

Storefront, in collaboration with Italian architecture and design magazine Abitare, will use the pavilion to host a series of events featuring Naoto Fukasawa, Rem Koolhaas, Gaetano Pesce, Oliviero Toscani and others.

Below is some info from Storefront:

--

Storefront for Art and Architecture at Milan Furniture Fair '08

Storefront for Art and Architecture, the New York-based nonprofit art and architecture gallery, in collaboration with Abitare Magazine, will be appearing in Milan for the 2008 Funiture Fair (16-21 April) with a new version of the Ring Dome pavilion by Minsuk Cho/Mass Studies previously installed at Storefront Gallery in New York.

The pavilion, built out of 1,500 hula-hoops and and 12,000 zip-ties, will be installed in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, the shopping arcade that connects Piazza Duomo and Piazza La Scala.

Over the five days of the Furniture Fair, the pavilion will host a series of events organized by Abitare and Storefront, including a 100-minute dialogue between Hans Ulrich Obrist, Pierre Paulin and Rem Koolhaas; a day-long domino-interview with 50 participants, starting with Naoto Fukasawa; Gaetano Pesce in conversation with Oliviero Toscani; and a day-long open editorial meeting.

Above and below: photos of Ring Dome in New York last year

Pop-up Storefront Milan
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
20100 Milan, Italy
16-21 April, 2008

Above and below: construction of Ring Dome

The post Ring Dome Milan by Minsuk Cho/Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

The second of our three recent buildings by Korean architects Mass Studies is the Xi Gallery in Pusan.

The exhibition centre, built by apartments brand Xi to showcase its show flats, also provides public cultural spaces.

See Mass Studies' Ann Demeulemeester Shop in Seoul in our previous story. All photos are copyright Yong-Kwan Kim and used with permission.

Here's the info from the architects:

--

Xi Gallery

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.

This four story, 9,491 m2 building is organized as follows [NB the pictures aren't with the right bits of text]

:

First Floor: This floor serves as pedestrian and vehicular access. In the most prominent street corner, a spacious outdoor staircase flows up to the second floor as a pedestrian entrance, while the rest of the first floor as marked as a parking lot and a small lobby to connect to the upper floors.

Fourth Floor: The uppermost floor is dedicated for apartment unit exhibitions. This 3,396m2 space has a maximum ceiling height of 7m, allowing up to 7 different unit types to be showcased at once.

The truss structure permits a wide 35m column span, creating a universal, neutral space for varying situations. At the centers of its 4 edges are different access facilities such as elevators, stairs and escalators, as well as a stepped rest space.

Second and Third Floor: A variety of public cultural programs are located on these floors. They efficiently connect the first and fourth floor, while the organization creates a different spatial condition as opposed to those functionally focused ones.

The fundamental logic is as follows: All the programs that act as a closed-off block (lecture hall, yoga room, offices, future housing exhibits, etc.) are dispersed within this 2 floor height space as each individual volumes.

Simultaneously, all the remaining spaces are adjoined to flow in a continuous manner, and accommodates the rest of the open programs (special exhibition hall, open lecture room, hall, lounge, etc.), by adjusting the locations of the closed masses.

These two typologies placed within this 2 floor height space are therefore all interconnected, and is a composition of small private spaces within a large open field.

For the visual/physical fluidity of the open space, the open/closed spaces are divided by sloped, folding surfaces. The slopes expand the line of sight as well as acting as means for vertical movement (such as a staircase), or even landscaping.

As a result, these 2 floors act as one large dynamic and topographical surface, while fulfilling the programmatic requirements. Furthermore, these topographical spaces can be effectively reorganized in unlimited ways. Movements in this space escapes from the standard orthogonal norm to be organized like a non-linear, 3-dimensional net, and encourages and supports dynamic spatial use.

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 4th 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 Data
architect: cho,minsuk + park,kisu
design team: mass studies
location: 1123-1 Yonsan-dong, Yonjae-gu, Pusan, Korea
site area: 10074.80 m2
gross floor area: 3613.94 m2
total floor area: 9400.79 m2
building-to-land ratio: 35.87%
floor area ratio: 93.31%
building scope: 3f, pilloti
structure: sc
finishing: plant box, ETFE, Polycarbonate
design period: 2006.11~2007.03
construction period: 2007.03~2007.08

The post Xi Gallery by Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

Here is the first of three recent projects by Korean architect Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies: the Ann Demeulemeester Shop in the Gangham district of Seoul.

The building has a living facade of plants and features a moss-lined internal stairway.

The fashion store for Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester occupies the ground floor of the building, which also contains a basement shop and a restaurant. All photos are copyright Yong-Kwan Kim and used with permission.

Below is some text about the shop from the architects, followed by project data, information about Mass Studios and a biography of Minsuk Cho:

--

Ann Demeulemeester Shop

The site is located in an alley, at a block’s distance from Dosandae-ro—a busy thoroughfare in Seoul’s Gangnam district—in close proximity to Dosan Park. Primarily residential in the past, the neighborhood is undergoing a rapid transformation into an upscale commercial district full of shops and restaurants.

The building is comprised of one subterranean level and three floors above. The Ann Demeulemeester Shop is located on the first floor, with a restaurant above and a Multi-Shop in the basement.

This proposal is an attempt to incorporate as much nature as possible into the building within the constraints of a low-elevation, high-density urban environment of limited space (378m2). The building defines its relationship between natural/artificial and interior/exterior as an amalgamation, rather than a confrontation.

Diverse interior spaces designated for its three main programs were made to be perceived and utilized as a part of the outdoors in a variety of ways. This building is not meant to be just another ‘object’ to be experienced externally, but rather as a synthetic organism of nature and artifice.

The parking lot/courtyard is at the center of the site, exposed to the street on the southern end. The entrance to the Ann Demeulemeester Shop is located on the western side of the courtyard, and stairs that lead to the other two programs are located on the eastern side. Landscaping of dense bamboo form a wall along each of the remaining three sides that border neighboring sites. Inside the first floor shop, undulating dark brown exposed concrete forms an organically shaped ceiling.

Round columns on the edges of the space continue the ceiling surface while providing the necessary structural support. This structural system creates arched openings of varying sizes that are open and as exposed as possible to the outside road and the bamboo hedges. This organic formation is not only a dynamic space but a flexible rectangular one (11.2m x 14m). The additional wing on the eastern side contains support functions such as fitting rooms, storage, and a bathroom, efficiently divided and connected at the same time.

The restaurant’s main entrance is a staircase that runs alongside the entire eastern side of the building. The shape of the ceiling below influences the restaurant space above, comprised of a three-level skip-floor formation. The two open-air spaces inside, a hidden terrace toward the rear of the building that extends from the top level, and a rooftop space accessible by stairs form a restaurant with intimacy, varying in spatial characteristics.

The stairs leading to the basement shop begins as a narrow, white, architectural space that gradually enlarges to become another organic shape—like a moss-covered subterranean cave—and serves as an entrance. This space is open to the outside, while at the same time is a composite garden buried 5.5m below ground.

The outside building material is primarily a geotextile planted with a herbaceous perennial to form a living façade, while the other three sides that face bamboo borders are clad in steel sheets are finished with propylene resin.

Project Data

architect: cho,minsuk + park,kisu
design team: mass studies
location: 650-14, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, korea
site area: 377.60 m2
gross floor area: 220.66 m2
total floor area: 734.33 m2
building-to-land ratio: 58.44%
floor area ratio: 119.76%
building scope: 3f,b1
structure: rc
finishing: vertical garden(Pachysandra terminalis),
exposed color concrete
design period: 2007.1~2007.5
construction period: 2007.4~2007.10

Mass Studies

Mass Studies was founded in 2003 by Minsuk Cho in Seoul, Korea, as a critical investigation of architecture in the context of mass production, intensely over-populated urban conditions, and other emergent cultural niches that define contemporary society.

Amid the many frictions defining spatial conditions in the twenty-first century, namely past vs. future, local vs. global, utopia vs. reality, and individual vs. collective, Mass Studies focuses on the operative complexity of these multiple conditions instead of striving for a singular, unified perspective.

For each architectural project, which exist across a wide range of scales, Mass Studies explores issues such as spatial systems/matrixes, building materials/techniques, and typological divergences to foster a vision that allows the discovery of new socio/cultural potential.

Minsuk Cho, AIA, Principal, Mass Studies

Minsuk Cho was born in Seoul and graduated from the Architectural Engineering department of Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) and the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University (New York).

He began his professional career working for Kolatan / MacDonald Studio, and Polshek and Partners in New York, and later moved to the Netherlands to work for OMA. Through these jobs, he gained experience in a wide range of architectural and urban projects implemented in various locations.

With business partner James Slade, he established Cho Slade Architecture in 1998 in New York City to be engaged in various projects both in the U.S. and Korea. In 2003, He came back to Korea to open his own firm, Mass Studies.

He has received many awards including the first prize in the 1994 Shinkenchiku International Residential Architecture Competition for new dwelling design and the Architectural League of New York's 'Young Architects Award' in 2000 for his work at Cho Slade Architecture.

In addition, two U.S. Progressive Architecture Awards (Citations) were won by him for 'Von Erlach House' in 1999 and the 'Heyri Dalki Theme Park' in 2003. The Dalki Theme Park was exhibited at the theme exhibition of the 2004 La Biennale di Venezia. He recently participated in 'open house', traveling exhibition and ‘New Treads of Architecture in Europe, Asia-Pacific 2006-2007’.

His representative works include 'Pixel House' and 'Dalki Theme Park', 'Nature Poem', ‘Boutique Monaco’ and 'Torque House'. He has also designed interior projects for the 'Martine Sitbon shop,' 'MUE shop' and 'Bitforms Gallery Seoul.'

The post Ann Demeulemeester Shop in Seoul by Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.

Korean architect Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies will build a temporary pavilion in New York City this September to host a series of performances to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Storefront for Art and Architecture gallery.

Called Ring Dome, the pavilion will open in Petrosino Park, next to the Storefront building (below), on 21 September, with daily performances continuing until 16 October.

Below is a press release from Storefront:

--

NEW YORK, NY - ANNOUNCING A SEASON OF SPECIAL EVENTS TO CELEBRATE STOREFRONT'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY

21 SEPTEMBER - 16 OCTOBER: PERFORMANCE Z-A, A PAVILION BY MINSUK CHO/MASS STUDIES AT STOREFRONT FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Twenty-five years ago, in September 1982, Storefront's first public event got underway in its original Prince Street location. Performance A-Z, organized by the gallery's founders Kyong Park and R L Seltman, and artist Arleen Schloss, was a 26-day sequence of performances by New York-based artists. Each of the 26 performers was allocated one evening slot.

The event became a manifesto for the gallery's future programming: as Kyong Park wrote in his introduction, "Storefront supports the idea that art and design have the potential and responsibility to affect public policies which influence the quality of life and the future of all cities."

In late September 2007, Storefront will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a new edition of its first event. Entitled Performance Z-A, this 26-day celebration will be hosted in Petrosino Park, adjacent to Storefront, in a specially built pavilion designed by Korean architect Minsuk Cho.

Organized by the three directors who have led Storefront over the past 25 years (Kyong Park, Sarah Herda and Joseph Grima), Performance Z-A will be an inclusive event involving not only performance artists but also representatives of all the disciplines that have participated in Storefront's program in the past decades: architects, artists, writers, researchers, filmmakers, photographers, musicians and more.

For 26 days, from September 21 to October 16, 2007, the protagonists of Storefront's past, present and future will host 26 evening events including performances, concerts, open discussions, film screenings and interviews. Participants will include:

Stalker Lab
Bjarke Ingels/BIG
Vito Acconci
Florian Boehm and Luca Pizzaroni
Stefano Boeri
Eyal Weizman
Anselm Franke
Minsuk Cho
Pedro Reyes
Akiko Miyake
Barbara Held
Dan Graham
Arleen Schloss
Armin Linke
Ruben Ochoa
Frederic Tuten
robbinschilds
Center for Urban Pedagogy
Jill Majid
DJ N-Ron
Academie Schloss Solitude
Tomas Saraceno
Forum for Urban Design

and many more. A detailed program of the final sequence of events will be published shortly on Storefront's website at www.storefrontnews.org

Performance Z-A will be part of a city-wide celebration of the 40th anniversary of art programming in New York City's parks, during which public parks around the city will host installations by a wide range of artists, both emergent and well-known.

ABOUT THE ORIGIANL PERFORMANCE A-Z (SEPTEMBER 1982)

Performance A-Z launched the opening of Storefront for Art Performance A-Z launched the opening of Storefront for Art Performance A-Z and Architecture at 51 Prince Street, its original location. For 26 consecutive nights free live performances by 26 artists, musicians and performers took place in the gallery and on the sidewalk. Teching Hsieh, who upon entering his home ended a year-long performance of living outdoors in New York City, was the only participant to hold his event at another location.

Storefront’s large display window blurred the distinction between inside and outside, performers and audience. Exploring a diverse range of performance art, Performance A-Z participants included the Gerlovins, Carolee Schneemann and Paul Boyd.

Storefront's program is generously supported by:
New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA)
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC)
New York City Department for Cultural Affairs (DCA)

Performance Z-A visiting artists are supported by:
The Graham Foundaion for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
Mexican Cultural Institute New York
Japan Foundation New York

The post Ring Dome by Minsuk Cho/Mass Studies appeared first on Dezeen.