Daeyang Gallery & House / Steven Holl Architects

 Daeyang Gallery & House  

Steven Holl Architects – new york-based firm has completed the Daeyang Gallery and House, located in the Sungbuk district of Seoul, Korea. The private gallery and house were inspired by a 1967 sketch of a music score by composer Istvan Anhalt called ‘Symphony of Modules’, discovered in a book by John Cage titled ‘Notations’, and works to convey sequential movement in its composition. Steven Holl Architects, based in New York and Beijing, has designed architectural work nationally and overseas, with attention paid to buildings related to the arts, such as museums, galleries, and exhibition designs.

There are three pavilions within the construction; one for residence, one for entry, and the final for event space which seem to push upward from a gallery level below. The red and charcoal stained wood interiors of the pavilions are activated by skylight strips of clear glass that are cut into the roof, so that artificial, as well as natural light move within the inner spaces, and is intended to represent a cesura in music. The glass lens strips in the pool enables light to break through to the white plaster walls and white granite floor of the gallery below. More skylights are scattered across the base of the pool, so daylight must pass through the water before entering the gallery.

The pool separates and connects the pavilions to suggest continuity between the elements and construction which is confirmed by the incorporation of a bamboo garden and the incorporation of the custom patinated copper exteriors, which ages naturally within the landscape. The Daeyang Gallery and House is heated and cooled with geothermal wells, which release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the earth, but emissions which are much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fuel, making it a sustainable project from Steven Holl Architects.

Steven Holl Architects

The private gallery and house is sited in the hills of the Kangbuk section of Seoul, Korea. The project was designed as an experiment parallel to a research studio on “the architectonics of music.” The basic geometry of the building is inspired by a 1967 sketch for a music score by the composer Istvan Anhalt, “Symphony of Modules,” discovered in a book by John Cage titled “Notations.”

Three pavilions; one for entry, one residence, and one event space, appear to push upward from a continuous gallery level below. A sheet of water establishes the plane of reference from above and below.

The idea of space as silent until activated by light is realized in the cutting of 55 skylight strips in the roofs of the three pavilions. In each of the pavilions, 5 strips of clear glass allow the sunlight to turn and bend around the inner spaces, animating them according to the time of day and season. Proportions are organized around the series 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55.

Views from within the pavilions are framed by the reflecting pool, which is bracketed by gardens that run perpendicular to the skylight strips. In the base of the reflecting pool, strips of glass lenses bring dappled light to the white plaster walls and white granite floor of the gallery below.

A visitor arrives through a bamboo formed garden wall at the entry court, after opening the front door and ascending a low stair. He or she can turn to see the central pond at eye level and take in the whole of the three pavilions floating on their own reflections.

The interiors of the pavilions are red and charcoal stained wood with skylights cutting through the wood ceiling. Exteriors are a rain screen of custom patinated copper, which ages naturally within the landscape.

 Project Data  

Project name: Daeyang Gallery & House
Location: Sungbuk district, Seoul, South Korea
Type: Gallery, Contemporary House, Glass House, Sustainable House, Luxury House
Program: residential and art gallery
Project Area: 1,760 sqm
Site Area: 5,774 sq.ft
Total floor area: 10703 sq.ft
Project Year: 2008-June 2012
Completion Year: 2012

 The people  

Client / Owner / Developer: n/a
Architects: Steven Holl Architects – 450 West 31st Street, 11th floor
New York, NY 10001, United States
Project Architect: Steven Holl
Associate in charge: JongSeo Lee
Project Team: Annette Goderbauer, Chris McVoy, Francesco Bartolozzi, Marcus Carter, Nick Gelpi, Jackie Luk, Fiorenza Matteoni, Rashid Satti, Dimitra Tsachrelia
Local architect: E.rae Architects, Inho Lee, Minhee Chung, Hyoungil Kim
Structural Engineer: SQ Engineering
Mechanical Engineer: Buksung HVAC+R Engineering
Lighting Consultant: L’Observatoire International
General Contractor: Jehyo
Text Description: © Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects, worldarchitecturenews
Images: © Steven Holl Architects, Iwan Baan, Inho Lee – Erae

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