SIHORU / 100A associates


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim
  • Architects: 100A associates
  • Location: Jeju-si, South Korea
  • Lead Architects: Kwang-il An, Sol-ha Park
  • Area: 95.93 m2
  • Project Year: 2018
  • Photographs: Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

Text description provided by the architects. Sihoru is a building to soak into the environment blandly without using any technical skills. It resembles surroundings harmoniously through its moderate form and natural properties of matter. Natural elements immanent in this space such as light, water, stones and shadow interact one another constantly. This space has the essence to keep dynamic flow in its simplicity.


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

Sihoru is a single pension located at a small village of Jeju named Dongbok-ri. This is the first business for a couple of clients who have lived for a long time in Seoul and 100A associates’ first project in Jeju. Above all, we started from understanding Jeju’s environment and locality, in proceeding this project as strangers. We intended to express their aims through ways of work and design, by defining the meaning of space.


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

Plan

Plan

© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

Architectural image we presented, was another island existing in an island. It is a small island only for rest, of which the space can be remembered perfectly with the time in it. It is also intended to be not a soaring but sunken building, in consideration of its site higher than other buildings around it and its narrow and long topography almost looking larger.


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

We tried not to emphasize the architectural form, by finishing it with the color sense and texture of materials which could be in harmony with surrounding environment naturally. We built the fence facing street higher in order to block the eyes and that facing village lower in order to mitigate the separated sense from the village.


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

Situated passing through two stone fences as tall as an adult’s height, inner space is also just like an independent island. However differently from the outside, it is an inner space and at the same time outer space. Glass wall enclosing the space blurs more the boundary between inside and outside. It means that it creates the optimum landscape which can be found in the vicinity because it hardly has the distant scenery. Even though it evokes a remote feeling as if it were in an isolated island, it provides another environment through the connectivity of all spaces from its courtyard to bedroom, corridor and fence.


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

Differently from the exterior space which has the skin of outdoor environment, interior space is arranged with warm materials and color sense. It also has the expandibility in order that three generations of family can gather together even if it is small in area. Functions of living room, kitchen and entrance hall are integrated, and unnecessary space is removed boldly. Above all, ㄷ-shaped large window gives the sense of visible openness.


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

Interior space also has the composition like ‘island in island’ by connecting vaguely the boundary between inside and outside of private area hidden functionally in open area. However, the open area communicates with the outside positively and honestly, while the private area fills up the outside a little more emotionally.


© Jae-yoon Kim

© Jae-yoon Kim

While planning and constructing it, we might want Sihoru to be a space which would be a part of island as the time on this strange land would be accumulated as the memories of island. It is just the reason to name this space ‘Sihoru’ which means the mind to present those who stay in this space with ‘the memorable time kept in their mind deeply without being forgotten’.