SsD

Gwangju Biennale, Korea | 2009
[curators' selection for full scale construction]    

One of 20 'rest box' designs selected by the curators of the Gwangju Design Biennale in Korea for full scale construction, the Infinite Box is a response to both the literal site of the nearby Soswaewon Gardens as well as the garden's metaphysical site embodied in the work of poet-scholar Kim Inhu who immortalized the Soswaewon's qualities in a 48 verse poem.  Our project treads this fine boundary between the actual and the metaphysical  through inextricably collapsing the boundary between the preconceptions of this dichotomy.  From the exterior, the box reads as a singular form with carved out voids. Upon discovering the interior however, an inversion occurs where the voids now become perceivable as figural objects through their reflection against the 6 mirrored interior planes. Thus, the destabilization of void-solid,  finite-infinite as one passes from outside the box to its interior and vice versa inspires new understandings of interior-exterior, mind-body, object-field, architecture-landscape.

From the exterior, the infinite box appears as a finite form with figural voids subtracted out of a platonic and comprehensible solid mass.

 

Siteplan:  From within, one realizes that the bounded box is actually sitting in a conceptually infinite field.

Upon entering the box, the idea of interiority is reversed so that instead of an enclosed and compact room, the mirrored surfaces create an expansive landscape that recalls the Soswaewon forest.

One of the openings was designed for the scale of the child.  The view through the pavilion questions the dichotomy between interior and exterior.

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park AIA + John Hong AIA/LEED (principals in charge), Eunkyoung Kim, Marcela Delgado, Mijung Kim, Virginie Bonnet, Frederick Peter Ortner

exhibit curator and coordinator
Byoungsoo Cho, BCHO architects associates

fabricator Han Design Group Co., Ltd.

photography
Wooseop Hwang (exteriors)
 

RELATED PROJECTS:

acc	czech library	hbny	white stadium	convergent flux

Seoul, Korea | 2008
[finalist, invited competition]

Water, digital technology, and sustainability are merged in this new reinterpretation of the iconic but now underutilized Seoul Olympic Stadium.  A temporary structure to house the international Seoul Design Olympiad (SDO) events, an inflatable arch is held away from the structure of the historic stadium.  Through a simple process of condensing water on the surface of this inflatable structure through solar evaporation, rain runoff is purified and ‘misted’ to create a white volume that catches digital light and defines new energized events.  The mist also nourishes a nursery of culturally significant trees within the center of the stadium.  At the end of the event, these trees are placed throughout the city of Seoul according to the city’s masterplan, extending the positive memory of the white stadium.

During the day, the inflatable structure becomes a white symbolic volume.  Sunlight is used to condense and purify water which is used to feed the garden as well as create mist. At night, LED lighting and large scale projections allow the space to become a festive center for events.  The use of mist from water purified during the day enhances the effects of the lighting.

Inspired by the simple and elegant pottery of the Baek-Ja era, the stadium becomes a new urban figure.  By using an inflatable structure combined with a simple process of condensing water in sunlight within the inflatable,  the mist at times hides the stadium and then allows it to reappear giving the existing building a new sense of life.

As the stadium fronts the Hangang River, contaminated water from the river is purified through the condensation process and used to water a grove of trees.

The simple process of purifying water through condensation is demonstrated.

The nursery of trees is then relocated to different parts of Seoul according to the city's masterplan.  The alliance of the two major municipal projects creates an overall savings for the city.

The  purified water is used for irrigation as well as well as for creating atmospheric mists for events.

View from the Han River: Changing patterns of white mist illuminated by LED's define the underutilized existing stadium as a new event space.  The purification of the water into mist allows the public to understand the importance of the river.

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park  AIA + John Hong  AIA, LEED (principals in charge), Frederick Peter Ortner, Chris Ryan, Leehong Kim, Jaeyoon Kim, Chang Zhang

structural engineer
Paul Kassabian, SGH

RELATED PROJECTS:

acc	czech library	boston harbor

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Brooklyn, NY | 2007

Rather than consider ‘Urban’ and ‘Soft’ as contradictory concepts, this project rethinks the terms as counterparts to one another. Instead of a series of windows that polarize notions of inside and outside, two transformable layers are utilized: The outer skin becomes a system of operable clear windows while the inner skin utilizes sliding panels with printed ‘windows’ that transition between clear and opaque. The space that is captured between these layers is a kind of ‘soft’ zone – neither outside nor inside, but a gradation between the two. From the interior, the additional perceptual depth allows users to innovate previous conceptions of the domestic.

Typological Transformations:  1.  The old-law 'railroad' tenement had little access to light and air. 2.  The new-law 'dumbell' tenement enforced small unnocupiable lightwells. 3.  Along with the rear-yard setback, soft lofts proposes a 'soft' perimeter of occupiable light and air spaces. 
Existing Zoning: Low 1 or 2 story warehouses are the defining characteristic that have attracted new residents(left).  The new zoning implies complete erasure with 5 or 6 story new construction.

Suggested Zoning: By not lowering the proposed FAR, new construction could still be spliced into the existing fabric (left).   The sidewall could become a new layer  of history among the existing warehouse streetfronts.

The sidewall (or party wall) can become a new surface for bringing in light as well as an elevation that participates tangentially with the surrounding urban scene.  As only 15% of this wall can be glazed per code, the wall can be more effective as an overall distributed pattern rather than as a few isolated openings.

A skip-stop elevator allows duplex units.  The double-height soft zone between the interior and exterior is defined by sliding panels that can be configured by the user to  naturally vary the environmental performance and transparency of the space.

PROJECT CREDITS:  

architect
Jinhee Park AIA, John Hong AIA/LEED (principals in charge), Frederick Peter Ortner, Erik Carlson, Anne Levallois, Sadmir Ovcina, Youngju Baik, Chris Minor, Hyeyoung Kim
 

RELATED PROJECTS:

hbny	mass art	czech library

Boston, MA | 2007
[RFP winner]

A new undulating screen of recycled polyester seat belts engages traffic flows while providing new places for the experience of education and the arts. The screen itself has a dual purpose: The vertical straps produce a Moiré illusion by interacting with a silk-screened base layer. These Moiré patterns convey information at the same time they animate the space through their movement and distortion. Secondly, the screen acts as a flexible infrastructure for hanging student, faculty, and community work. The polyester straps can be mounted onto or pulled aside to reveal display cases and video art.

Moiré Study: Interference patterns between a revealing layer and a base layer result in an optical illusion of magnification and mirroring. These phenomena allow us to create a deep illusionistic space in the narrow cavity between the existing walls of the building and the installed screen.

The new programmed screen wall accomodates many aspects of student and community life.  The current existing lobby is a dark provisional space that one merely passes through.

Through configuring each of the seat belt profiles to accommodate specific functions, the new screen fluidly engages a continuous range of activities from personal to communal scales.

Polyester is the most widely used and produced polymer in the world making up around one half of all polymers produced.  Its advantage, the durability of the material, is also its environmental disadvantage.  In a landfill it will take most standard polyesters, such as those in seat belts, many thousands of years to biodegrade.  Although polyesters are in general highly recyclable, the process of doing so is energy intensive and releases new pollutants into the air and water.  In light of this it is important to not only re-use existing polymer based products, but to raise consciousness about their life-cycles.

The existing lobby, originally seen as left over space, is transformed into a linear sequence of events (plan above, unfolded elevation below).

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park AIA, John Hong AIA, LEED (principals in charge), Frederick Peter Ortner, Catarina Marques 

design detailing + fabrication
Loki Custom Furniture

structural engineer
Matt Johnson, SGH

RELATED PROJECTS:

conflux	boston harbor	big dig bldg

Providence, RI | 2007
[finalist, national rfp]

An electronic "cloud" canopy formed of an array of LED's and speakers are triggered by passerbys and weather patterns heightening otherwise invisible relationships between publics and their environments. As groups begin to gather, the interactive electronics intensify, promoting impromptu performances and conversations. Urban landscape mounds form lounging areas as well as define new paths.

A simple weather station inputs data to the canopy and allows it to interactively extend the experience of the weather by mixing visual and auditory information with the people's use patterns (left).  Direct and indirect paths are defined by the canopy (right).
 

 

During hot days, cool lighting and sound are emitted (left).  An undulating landscape allows users to create their own interpretations of how the plaza space can be used (right).

 

 

 
Even when the electronics are off, a moire effect created by the canopy components gives the appearance that the cloud canopy is shifting and transforming as one moves around the plaza (left).  A detail of the canopy light rods shows the simplicity of the structure (right).

 

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park AIA, John Hong AIA/LEED (principals in charge), Erik Carlson (Area C), Catarina Marques, Frederick Peter Ortner

structural engineer
Matt Johnson, SGH

sound design
Erik Carlson (Area C)

interactive technology consultant
Tellart

 

RELATED PROJECTS:

mass art	boston city call	bac sasaki	white stadium

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