The "art villas" form Block D of the Lotte Jeju Resort, a development of houses designed by different architects, including Dominique Perrault, Yi Jongho and Seung H-Sang.

Kengo Kuma used locally sourced volcanic rocks for the exterior of his buildings, as a reference to over 300 volcanoes and lava cones, called oreums, that are scattered across the island.

"When I visited Jeju Island for the first time, I was so much inspired by this dark, porous volcanic rock and wanted to translate its soft and round touch into architecture," says Kuma. "As the result, the entire house emerged as a round black stone."

A neat lattice of timber creates the arching profiles of the rooftops. The volcanic rubble is spread thinly over the surfaces, stretching down to the ground at intervals and receding to make way for rectangular skylights over various rooms.

Kuma explains: "Our intention was [for] the light to come through the black pebbles. Light highlights the texture of the stone, and the ambiguous roof edge can connect the roof with the ground."

The villas are available to rent or buy and are available in two sizes - 210 and 245 square metres.

Jeju Ball is one of several projects completed by Kengo Kuma recently, following an art and culture centre with a chequered timber facade and a bamboo-clad hotel. See more architecture by Kengo Kuma.

Other buildings we've featured on Jeju Island include a an art museum surrounded by a pool of water and a headquarters building for a Korean internet company.

Here's the complete statement from Kengo Kuma:

Jeju Ball

When I visited Jeju Island for the first time, I was so much inspired by this dark, porous volcanic rock and wanted to translate its soft and round touch into architecture. As the result, the entire house emerged as a round black stone. From distance, the house appears like a single pebble and when you are close, you notice that many parts of the house are of the black stone.

The stone eaves should be the principal detail for this house. Our intention was the light to come through the black pebbles. Light highlights the texture of the stone, and the ambiguous roof edge can connect the roof with the ground. The detail, placing the black stone on a steel mesh, enabled us to realise such vague and subtle edge.

What determines the landscape of Jeju is this blackness and porousness. So we sublimated its feel in a scale of a house.

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and Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Named Panorama House, the three-storey residence is home to a family of six in North Chungcheong Province. The clients had asked Moon Hoon to include various spaces where their four children could play, so the architects designed a house where different floors belong to different residents.

The ground floor is dedicated to the children and includes the wooden staircase and slide. Open treads create bleacher-style seating areas for a home cinema, but they also double-up as bookshelves for a small study area tucked underneath.

"The key was coming up with a multi-functional space," say the architects. "The multi-use stair and slide space brings much active energy to the house. Not only children, but also grown-ups love the slide staircase."

Two twin bedrooms are located behind the study, plus the youngest children can also use the large second-floor attic as a playroom.

Family rooms are all located on the middle floor and lead out to two separate terraces. Underfloor heating was added to each of the spaces to encourage residents to sit on the floor, rather than on furniture.

A bedroom suite is separated at one end of this floor and features an en suite bathroom and dressing room.

The facade of Panorama House is divided into a basalt-clad base and a white-rendered upper. To accentuate the subtle zigzag of the plan, the architects added angled sections to create the illusion of three cubes in perpective.

Indoor slides have featured in a few residences in recent years. Architect David Hotson added a tubular steel slide to a penthouse apartment in New York, while slides have also featured in a house in Indonesia and a house in Japan. See more slides on Dezeen.

Photography is by Huh Juneul, apart from where otherwise indicated.

Here's a project description from Moon Hoon:

Panorama House

The Client

They have four kids, and that is a big family by contempory standards. They are both teachers in their late thirties. The first and the most important thing they wanted in their new home was a place where their kids could play, read and study. They wanted lower floors for the kids and upper for themselves. They already tried it out with another architect, but it did not satisfy them, that's when they said that they found about me, who appeared to be more playful and more creative.

The Site

Irregular and sloped site boasted a great view. It is situated in a nice newly built surburb. The view reminded me of a scene from a movie, LA surburbs at night. Instantly, a name for the house came up - Panorama House - which they nodded with some ambience.

The Design

The basic request of upper and lower spatial organization and the shape of the site prompted a long and thin house with a fluctuating facade, which would allow for a more differentiated view. The key was coming up with a multi-functional space which is a large staircase, bookshelves, casual reading space, home cinema, slide and many more.

The client was very pleased with the design, and the initial design was accepted and finalised almost instantly, only with minor adjustments. The kitchen and dining space is another important space where family gathers to bond. The TV was pushed away to a smaller living room. The attic has the best view is possible and it is used as a play room for younger kids.

The multi-use stair and slide space brings much active energy to the house. Not only children, but also grown-ups love the slide staircase. It is an action-filled, playful house for all ages.

The fluctuating facade is accentuated by mirrored bottom and top angles. It can bring about some illusion when looked at with some concentration. The various sized windows provide different outlooks. Korean houses are floor heated, which is quite unique and brings users to the floors more than to furniture such as sofa and chairs. So many windows are placed quite low, considering the long living habit. There is no high-legged dining table for the family, only a portable foldable short-legged table. The space kept empty until any specific function arises.

Architect: Moon Hoon
Design Team: Lee Ju Hee, Kim Dong Won, Park Sang Eun
Client: Moon Sung Gwang
Total Site Area: 570.50 sqm
Total Floor Area: 209.14 sqm
Construction: reinforced concrete and wood frame

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by Moon Hoon appeared first on Dezeen.

Designed by Seoul studio JOHO Architecture, The Curving House is a two-storey residence near Mount Gwanggyosan with a view out across the rural landscape.

Concrete pilotis lift the house off the ground, making room for a sheltered parking area underneath, while the curved facade frames the patio out in front.

"The fundamental challenge was not only solving the parking problem but also creating a space for both parking and gardening to coexist," explains studio principal Jeonghoon Lee. "The shape of the mass - resembling a concave lens - was created by both the parking needs and the topographical condition of the lot."

The architects used two different kinds of silvery bricks to give texture to the exterior walls. They also added polished stainless steel, which functions as a mirror to reflect the surrounding trees.

"The ash-coloured bricks embrace the concrete surface as fish scale," says Lee. "If the bricks reveal themselves by the change of light and shadow, the stainless steel de-materialises itself by making itself disappear in nature."

A staircase tucked underneath the building provides the only entrance and leads up into a double-height living room with a kitchen and bedroom on either side.

Borrowing concepts from traditional Korean homes, these rooms are separated by sliding screens that can be folded back to create one continuous space. A long narrow balcony also stretches across the front.

Two staircases each lead to different rooms upstairs, with a multi-purpose room on one side and a prayer room on the other.

Other Korean residences completed recently include a house and studio with a scaly facade and a home surrounded by timber baton screens. See more architecture in South Korea.

Photography is by Sun Namgoong.

Here's the full project description from Jeonghoon Lee:

The Curving House - Sinbong-dong, Yongin

There is no home for parking

I remember that it was a winter day after snowing when I first visited the site. It was a rare residential lot with an open view to the south at the dead end of a small path beneath Mt. Gwanggyo. What was unique about this lot was that it was very hard to turn the car to come out of the path after more than 2 cars parked, because it was a small path only 4m in width. Ironically, the fundamental challenge was not only solving the parking problem but also creating a space for both parking and gardening to coexist. It was closely related to the lifestyle of home owner to decide whether to create a garden directly accessible from the living room or to emphasize a visual garden. To resolve this issue, the overall shape was formed to encase the lot with more curves and lifted about 2 m from the ground using pilotis for more efficient parking. The shape of the mass resembling a concave lens was created by both the parking needs and the topographical condition of the lot.

The line penetrates the sky

The mountains penetrate the sky and the sky contains the mountains as nature. Here, the mountains form lines and the lines remember the mountains in the land. The terrains of Mt. Gwanggyo flow low above the lot and the lot displays the entire view as if it responds to the graceful flow. At this site, the land is the proof of space and everything about the substance. The shape created here contains the sky as an earthenware jar and displays the potentiality of land as a spatial substance. It draws a shape, but creates a space that shows the sky outside the shape to hide itself in nature. Should the line be hidden in nature or should the nature be displayed in the hidden line? This was the essential challenge of this land and the sincere response to the background. This is directly related to how the topographies should be interpreted in Korean traditional spaces. Korean traditional spaces have pursued the shape that is not completely hidden in nature yet beautifully harmonized with surrounding nature. It is based on the post-dualistic beauty of harmony that proves its existence while hiding in nature rather than dominating nature with its shape and lines.

The flow of light contained in silver scale

The ash-colored bricks (traditional bricks) embrace the concrete surface as fish scale while slightly altering the angles. The traditional bricks used for this project have silver water-repellent coating on the surface and show sentimentality different from the rough surfaces of their tops and bottoms. The bricks with two different surfaces were piled to form a certain pattern from angles 1° through 25°. In other words, the variation of angle is another way how the outer skin in the shape of a concave lens facing south defines its existence. The shadow of the brick wall caste as the sun moves converts the flow of lines into the subtle change of the outer skin. The variation of the brick surface is intended to read the entire mass differently according to the perspective of incomer and the perspective of viewing the images from the mountains.

Contrast and harmony of texture

The rough texture of the traditional bricks interprets the lot in a different way in combination with the property of highly reflective stainless steel. The skies and nature reflected on the stainless steel surface distort what the true substance is to break the boundaries between shapes and texture. Unlike the rough texture of ceramic bricks, the stainless steel used on the front and on the side reflects the surrounding landscapes to make itself disappear. If the bricks reveal themselves by the change of light and shadow, the stainless steel de-materialises itself by making itself disappear in nature. Such contrasting textures have different properties and confront each other in a single mass, but they ultimately establish balance through the extinction and reflection of light.

Space as a flow of nature

The pilotis for parking naturally serves as an opening for air ventilation. The summer breeze coming down from the mountain ridge circulates the air around the building thus reducing the heat load. Also, each room has windows for cross-ventilation and is planned to allow natural circulation of air. The motorized window on top of the living room can release heated air in summer for air circulation triggered by the difference in temperature known as stack effect. The staircase to the north is planned to serve as a buffer of air against the freezing northwestern winds in winter to minimize heat loss. The front windows facing the south allow sufficient sunlight in winter to maximize energy efficiency with natural sunlight. In particular, the ceiling is also diversified to invite as much natural light as possible into the building to control illumination naturally.

New technical interpretation of traditional space

The flow of space was borrowed from the method of handling the flow of air in traditional Korean homes. In detail, the pilotis on the bottom expands the surface of volume exposed to outer air to reduce the load of heat energy and allows natural ventilation in summer. This is similar to the principle of open living rooms in Korean traditional spaces. It means that the entire building allows ventilation to keep the building cool. In winter, on the other hand, the concrete floor is made as thick as possible as a thermal mass, similar to Ondol floors of Korean traditional architecture for maximum insulation, to block the cold air from the underground. Also, the interior space of the second floor has an open living room, bedroom, and kitchen which can be divided and combined flexibly with sliding doors for different needs. This is a modern reinterpretation of the variable space of Korean traditional homes that can be used either as a big room or as smaller individual rooms.

Architect: Jeonghoon Lee
Design Team: JOHO Architecture(Il-Sang Yoon, Gae-hee Cho)
Use: Housing
Location: 678-2, Sinbong-dong, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
Completion: 2012.10
Construction: Dong-jin Chea(DL donglim construction)
Client: Im-jeong Choi

Material: Exposed Concrete + Ash-colored Brick + STS panel(mirror type)
Site area: 529.00 sqm
Building area: 140.57 sqm
Building to land ratio : 26.57% (<40%)
Floor area ratio: 35.22% (<100%)
Building scope: 3F

Above: ground floor plan - click for larger image

Above: first floor plan - click for larger image

Above: second floor plan - click for larger image

Above: roof plan - click for larger image

Above: long section - click for larger image

Above: short section - click for larger image

Above: front elevation - click for larger image

Above: side elevation - click for larger image

Above: rear elevation - click for larger image

Above: side elevation - click for larger image

The post The Curving House
by JOHO Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

As the panels emerge behind the glass they begin to separate from one another, creating a series of openings that permit views across from the double height studio to the living quarters behind.

The wall also curves upward to wrap and conceal a bedroom on the first floor.

The two-storey-high exterior walls are constructed from concrete and nestle against a hillside that climbs up behind the house.

See more stories about about studios for artists or designers here.

Photography is by Kim Yong Gwan.

Here's some more text from AND:

Skinspace

Artist + Painting

An artist walks into the office, introducing himself with a pamphlet of his paintings. Vivid colors and forced brush strokes that densely filled the screens shows his sensibility and thoughts. His use of unfamiliar words to describe his works that he is “interested in ecological theology,” illustrates the naïve mind of the artist that he paints from himself, or he paints himself through the painting. Perhaps, that is why his recent works include a body of a person in a landscape. The body, rather than being separated as a distinctive object, is depicted as part of the aggregated elements of the surrounding landscape where the trees, bushes, and the sky respond to each other blurring the boundary. What he depicts here is not a moment’s phenomenal state; rather it is the deconstruction of the object as a monad, at the same time, it is about things become an integrated being united with the surroundings.

Studio + Nature

The artist has been working at home for more than ten years. The subjects of his paintings are nothing special but spaces of his daily life. He has been constantly projecting his gaze at the parks nearby, streets, a small village in a countryside where he often visits. As seen from his recent exhibition titles, ‘A Talk with a Tree,’ ‘Thinking Forest,’ there is no clear boundary between human and nature in his paintings. Furthermore, the distinction between a body and its surroundings, or interior and exterior is only allusive.

What is clearly revealed is the flow of continuous matter waves and powerful forces that fill the space. A quotation found from his note explains everything, “Molecules think, too.” As an alternative to the Modernist’s ontology that separates man and nature, body and reason, and that postulates a certain dominant structure, his studio explores the world of wholeness. His studio shall reflect his world view. Then the real question is how one constructs an ambiguous field that interior is blurred with exterior, nature permeates into the space, and the artist’s gaze spills out to the nature.

Skin + Space

To the north of the site is a 4 meter high sloped hill, and the site is open towards all three sides. First, a long façade stands on the south of the site and overlooks a stream. The skin of the façade is gently rolled inward as it breaks up the boundary between the interior and the exterior. The rolled in surfaces lift up as they enter the interior and they traverse the interior toward the opposite side of the wall. During the crossing, the panels of the skin are split and distorted, creating loose crevices.

The landscape permeates through the crevice, and so does light. The light colors the space with every moment in time. As a body moves, the space of the crevice changes sensitively. Skin becomes space, and space becomes skin. The boundary is blurred, and the flow that passes through the interior and the exterior becomes denser.

Site: Seohoori, Seojongmyun, Yangpyeonggun, Gyeonggido, Korea
Construction Area: 112.62m2
Gross Area: 130.60m2

Floors: 2
Structure: RC

Project Year: 2010
Designed and Constructed by AND

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by AND appeared first on Dezeen.

Timber baton screens surround the new ground and first floor decks of a renovated house in Seoul by Korean studio Moohoi Architecture.

Located in a densely developed neighbourhood, Julia's apartment previously had little outdoor space, received minimal natural light and was overlooked by neighbouring buildings.

The new wooden screens provide privacy whilst allowing light through.

Inside the two-storey house, a section of the first floor is removed to increase light on the ground floor.

A staircase at the rear of the house is reconfigured, providing space for a tearoom.

We also recently featured another house in Korea, which spirals up from the ground - see our earlier story here and see all our stories about Korea here.

Photography is by Park Young-Chae.

Here's a project description from Jae-Kwan:

Renovation (zeep-soori) of Julia’s House

Seocho-dong

Overall appearance of the Seocho-dong area, a representative residential district in Gangnam, Seoul, was quite different from the way it looked in the past. Many of the earlier houses were replaced by high-rise apartments. Houses that were excluded from the apartment complexes were turned into low-rise multi-family housing units.

One of the main reasons Julia’s house could remain unchanged was it couldn’t belong to any type of housing that newly appeared and it was situated on a small plot in the outskirts of commercial and residential areas. Moreover, the owner said she couldn’t afford to purchase an apartment unit in the neighborhood by selling the house. She could neither buy an apartment nor build a commercial building, nor build a multi-household home. The narrow alley near the house was enlarged and turned into a road where cars run all day, and the house behind Julia’s home was transformed into a parking lot which exposed it to the cold in winter. In addition, the house in front of hers was changed to a 5-story multi-family housing unit blocking sunlight all day long. Despite such poor housing conditions, the neighborhood has beautiful landscapes surrounded by Mt. Umyeon and Seoul Arts Center. Moreover, she has tremendous assets in her good relationship with next-door neighbors, Stephano, Moses, and John.

Repair on vision

The first thing to be done to keep living in the neighborhood was to handle views from the surroundings. In particular, the house is laid open to view from the house in front. Although direct exposure of the inside of the house could be avoided due to opaque glass on the windows of the multi-household house in front, the problem was severe from the houses on both sides.

She said one day while she was putting out the laundry, she was surprised to see a man standing on the balcony on the second floor staring at her house, while smoking.

Her inner courtyard and bedroom especially were directly viewable from the balcony of a commercial residential building on the left. So, she had to close thick curtains all the time even during the hot summer. However, the problem was the direction facing the south. If installing a screen, views from outside could be blocked. But, it could also prevent sunlight and wind from coming through to the space. I came up with two ideas for the solution. One was to partially lay bricks to cut off views from the next-door house and the other was to partially install a wood curtain on the slab structure on the second floor to let sunshine and wind freely come and go. Through this measure, all the disturbing troubles were resolved. What was needed most in repairing this house was to fix problems concerning views from the outside, rather than the house itself.

Repair on space

What grabbed my attention among external spaces of the house was the boundary between the house and the city. Usually, entrances of houses are adjoined with an alley. But, the house faces a road where a lot of cars go by due to the new apartment buildings constructed nearby. The alley was turned into a road. In this way, like a scene from a movie I watched, a not-so-funny thing might happen as an open entrance could be blown away by a car closely passing by just in time. Thus, I decided to create a narrow alley that connects the entrance with the city like a conjunction connecting words in a sentence. The alley which was created on a corner of the small external spaces of the house serves various roles. It is the place where Julia greets her father occasionally visiting her family, a place where she lets her neighbors into her yard, a place she adjusts her hair or dress on her way to work or a place which bridges the road and her yard together.

The Court

The house’s external spaces were complicated with miscellaneous things scattered all over. Two jar stands buried in the ground, outdoor stairs, a drying rack with only one wing folded out, a drying rack with both wings available, clotheslines tied between tree branches and drying laundry, a sculpture depicting a naked body which was a work of her daughter, a cross made of tin plate, two boxes full of ceramic works, jar stands filled with rainwater, outside air conditioner unit, a half-open tool box, viewing stones, dog feces, lily, chrysanthemum, good luck tree flowerpots, porcelain pots, morning glory planted along the fence, a persimmon tree, peony, chrysanthemums, a lilac tree, a pomegranate tree, a long bench leaning against the entrance, a broom and a shovel.

The only thing missing was a yard. I created a spacious wooden deck at the height of the first floor in order to secure external spaces to distribute the functions such as storage, garden, drying, exhibition and receiving visitors. In this process, separated the garden and the yard by cutting out the area around the existing tree with same size and shape and repaired the outdoor spaces after removing ceramic pieces to the daughter’s atelier or the edge of the pond.

Repair to Enhance Usability

The clock of the house stopped 38 years ago. One of the reasons to purchase the house was said to be 7 rooms which fit the number of the brothers of her husband. But, the family no longer needs all the rooms. Now, four rooms for each family member, coupled with a guest room, are enough. On the other hand, the family needed more storage space as household goods increased. The structure of the kitchen was not proper for large appliances such as large refrigerators and kimchi refrigerators to be installed. Their lifestyle changed significantly, but their living spaces remained unchanged. In addition, the house was dark. Although the house faces the south, the sunlight couldn’t reach inner spaces of the house due to its structure. Moreover, she has never dared to open windows of a north-facing room because of a parking lot. Now, the situation worsened as the newly built house in front obstructs sunlight and wind from reaching her house. I had to find a solution to let the sunshine reach deeply inside. The answer was unexpectedly simple. After I found a sunny place which is not influenced by the house in front, I cut out a big chunk of the floor of the place, inviting sunlight to the deep inner parts of the house followed by the wind. Now, they can stay cool during summer without an air conditioner and Julia’s voice urging them to wake up in the morning is clearly heard from the second floor, although it may be cumbersome for the son.

Architect: Kim Jae-kwan, Moohoi architecture
Location: 1487-10 SeoCho-Dong, SeoCho-Koo, Seoul, Korea
Program: Housing
Site area: 189.5m2
Gross floor area: 237.69m2
Building scope: B1, 2F
Exterior finishing: Black brick, Spruce wood
Interior finishing: Wallpaper, Spruce wood
Construction: Kim Jae-kwan
Design period: 2009.8~10
Construction period: Dec. 2009 - Mar. 2010
Client: Julia Kim + Bruce Jun

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by Moohoi Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.