Z-House by Hohyun Park + Hyunjoo Kim
Korean architects Hohyun Park and Hyunjoo Kim have designed the Z-House.
Full description after the photos….
Name of Building: Z-house
Architect: Hohyun Park + Hyunjoo Kim
Location: 342-19 Neungpyeong-ri, Opo-eup, Gwangju Si, Gyeonggi-Do
Use: Residential
Site Area: 805.00M2
Gross Floor Area: 287.569M2
Building Area: 189.64M2
Landscaping Area: 615.36M2
Gross Floor Ratio: 26.89%
Building Coverage Ratio: 23.56%
Building Scope: 2story Building, 1story Basement
Structure: RC
Exterior Finishes: Black Zinc, Basalt, Red Cedar, Slate
Interior Finishes: Paint, Cedar, Pine, Wenge Flooring, Wenge& Zebrano staircase, Slate
Duration of Design: 2007.05 ~ 2008.03
Duration of Construction: 2008.05 ~ 2009.04
Photograph: Jungmin Seok
The site is located at Gwangju Si, Gyeonggi-Do, where is 30Km away from center of seoul. Surrounded by small houses, it is at the top of a hill with deep slope. First thing to consider is to keep woods on west side of the site. Available area of the site is limited by the woods. Facing a view of mountains on south side, the building is located.
In composition of space, relationship among programs and circulation are played important role. Ground level, which is divided by kitchen/Dining and living area and upper level, which is divided by children rooms and master zone are crossing at division area. By this manner, space is gradually ascending from entry to master zone.
Next thing to consider is to make dynamic space by changing size of space and by leading sight. High ceiling at the entrance corridor is more emphasized by sunlight through skylight and a wall, which is faced at the end of corridor, inducts eye to dining area. At this point, the ceiling height is suddenly changed by overhead ramp. High ceiling living area appears through low-rise 3step staircase, which is crossing outside water pond and inside plant area. From living area, space bifurcates to library at lower level and to upper level. Master zone, where is a climax in space scenario, is connected by a corridor and a ramp from children’s room at upper level. Master bedroom is entered through open bathroom and powder room and reconnected to entrance corridor.
Shape of the building is planned to follow the space scenario and roof, which is covered by black zinc is wrapping around upper level mass and form a homogeneous and muscular shape. Contrarily, lower level masses, which are covered by basalt, stand rigidly. Water pond and inner plant space are inserted at the crossing point of lower level mass and upper level mass.
Visit Hohyun Park + Hyunjoo Kim Architects website – here.
JT on 27 Aug 2009 at 3:46 pm #
Love how it sits into the surrounding hills and the site. Interior is warm and cosy. Is this the new Korean Phenomenology?
Christian on 28 Aug 2009 at 12:33 am #
Full of gorgeous details, like the stair cases, also full of interesting angles and views. Seems to me though some space is ‘wasted’ of traffic areas rather than living room. Still, I like it!
SYLVIA on 28 Aug 2009 at 3:36 am #
Se integra a la perfeccion con el entorno. muy de acuerdo con los detalles, son los que al final embellezen la vivienda como en la escalera..y las luces … de que firmas son??? son muy bellas, sobre todo la del comedor, ya me informareis. saludos y felicidades
cristy on 28 Aug 2009 at 1:23 pm #
Absolutely fabulous ♥ I love the design and the aesthetics of the design.I would love to live here. The floating stair case is magical.
George Brown on 31 Aug 2009 at 8:22 am #
i dream of this house in this location.
jwc3 on 03 Sep 2009 at 6:29 am #
Cool stairs!
hZ! on 09 Nov 2009 at 4:23 am #
The whole internal plan is secondary to and symptomatic of the architect’s ‘vision’ of intersecting prisms and alphabet letters. This kind of hubris is unfortunately not considered in the least remarkable. I would feel a complete chump if, having godzillions to spend on a T-shirt, I were to buy one, made especially for me, that had the maker’s name in 150 font, front and back, and that then seemed to be the right size and shape to fit the maker, or maybe to fit some generic humanoid of proportions calculated to represent nothing but the average body type possessed by those with godzillions to spend.
Looking at this from a distance it’s ‘hey the grey prism fits into the wooden zigzag, and there are patterns to discern, like a puzzle’. Which I doubt says anything much about the client but a sh*tload about the architect and his model table/CAD interface.
And I have to say the photographer has done a great job choosing camera angles to capture the many slots and squares and other polygons echoing each other here and there. Hoorah for pattern recognition, but what does this multilith contribute as a home?
It is hard to think of a pro.
A list of cons:
Shiny stairs + children with damp feet or flat-soled dress shoes = disaster
Ugly (fashionable) washbasin with immovable tap in a shiny-floored transit area = falls and broken bones
So far, this house is just dangerous.
Stairs whose lower edges are not rounded = scraped backs of heels.
Light fittings worthy of a hotel atrium. In fact this looks like a hotel, with the horrible institutional downlights and all the glass and metal and plaster. A hotel owned by someone who loves black white and ochre enough to cover thousands of square metres with them. And who hates every other colour.
‘Clever’ curved wall that means all furniture against it will have large gaps behind.
No privacy in the bathroom. The architect may find this unbelievable, but there ARE times human beings prefer to sit on and otherwise use the jacks without feeling like shop front window displays.
A bath that wastes megalitres of water.
A bathroom without a single storage facility, or so it appears.
A shiny floor in the dining room! + food and drinks = more broken bones.
A dingy, dark reading room/library with no place to sit unless you count that wide, hard wooden bench. It seemingly operates similarly to McDonalds, doing all possible to encourage outward traffic.
A relatively generous double doorway leading to a deck which is a thoroughly imprisoning space with its harsh concrete walls and oppressive cantilevered (‘clever’) overhang.
There is no limit to the coldness and brutality of this building. It seems to be comprised almost entirely of thinly disguised corridors.
And I’m presuming they’re planning to do something about covering the windows later- or don’t they mind looking like ants in an ant farm from outside?