IROJE- 15 Iconic Projects

1. Tetris Nursery7

A kindergarten located in the Korean- Republic of Seoul is a building designed to give its users diverse elements of learning experiences. This aim was achieved by providing various spatial experiences when the user strolls from one place to another. From the playground, through the playstair, rest terrace, play bridge, roof-playstair, and roof garden, all were various strolling spaces that provided diverse experiences. Furthermore, by colorful glazed windows on the building façade with translucent properties, they aim to teach the kids about the typical experiences by changing or mixing colors. “We expect all the parts of this architecture could be the learning things for all the kids of this kindergarten” (Divisare 2017).

2. Flying House

A Residential project finished in the year 2016 located in Korea, Republic of- Gyeongseo, is a Pilot’s House. The Architects made the behavioral characteristic of the owner, i.e., flight the cultural identity of the house around which the design of the house revolves. They tried to maintain the environmental balance between the sky and the land. The dynamic movement of the surface roof on top tried to symbolize the airline’s flight. Also, they planned a sitting-down form of heating stone system in the living area, an element of Korean Architecture. In this project, they transformed the Korean Architecture elements into a contemporary housing style while keeping themselves on the client’s low budget by making the construction material concrete the finishing material resulting in cutting the cost of extra material and making the spaces simple. 

3. White Boat

A car park building was designed in 2013 and is located in the center of the famous street of young students named “street of hongik university” in Seoul. The building looks like an urban installation of art which transparently shows (during nighttime) the car parade of their ascending and descending inside the building. The building harmonizes with the main building “Silver Boat” by depicting a profile of a huge elongated ship having clad in painted aluminium and having polycarbonate glass windows. “We designed “show windows” of polycarbonate glass on the body of this car-storage, to give the life of light inside and outside” (Divisare 2016).

4. Kyeong Dok Jai

The project is one of their iconic residential projects designed in 2010 and is located in Korea, Republic of Gyeonggi-do. The house has a sliced pie-shaped layout zoned into three slices that welcomes the southern sun in winter into this house’s interior and exterior spaces. The total site area is around 2476 sqft, and by maximization of the area, the designers have given diverse kinds of garden spaces which include an inner garden, piloted pavilion garden, sunken garden, and roof garden. The residence’s front façade is covered with aluminium pipes; they not only filter warm summer sun but also provide privacy and security. The place gives users a diverse visual and spatial experience when they stroll through the house.

5. Lim Geo Dang

The main aim of this residential project for the designers was the successful translation of the heritage of tradition into a modern vocabulary. So, the base concept behind the design is the dramatic circulation between the spaces, which is also the main characteristic of the traditional architecture of Korea. The house’s main trait of conventional architecture was the use of ‘Madang’ (traditional inner courtyards). Eight places of ‘Madang’ were located on different levels to bring out the drama of all spaces, and all the significant areas of the house were connected to it.

6. Ga On Jai

This residential project in Korea, the Republic of – Gyeonggi-do, was designed in 2013 and located in an explicitly old expo town. The house has been designed with an introverted layout blocking the noise and smoke and providing privacy and security. The main aim was to take out the maximum usage of land use through ecological and sustainable solutions. Traditional Korean Architecture’s traits were achieved using elements like ‘Madang’,’ Rumaru’,’ Cheoma’. The site’s existing topography helped inculcate different levels, adding to the experience of strolling through the house. Ga On Jai not only preserved the South Korean Village representation of the site but also amalgamated modernity with traditional aesthetics.

7. Archi- Fiore

Archi- Fiore, located in Youngin-Si, Korea, completed in 2014, is a vertical retail residence building comprising a coffee shop, restaurant, office, and residence. The main aim behind the design of this building is to represent a commercial building while connecting itself with the surroundings. The spatial separation of the home from the other spaces is achieved by providing the house’s entrance at the uppermost part of the building, which is the end line of the sightseeing path lying after passing a garden. “The building’s curving outline refers to the concave pitched-roof structures that are traditional in Korea, as well as the elliptical form of a gymnasium that sits opposite” (Mairs 2015). This instance of a vertical city is like a part that is the new landmark of the area.

8. Myeongjeong Meditation Garden 

The project is a meditative garden in Gunwi- Gun, South Korea, aiming to create an observation point at this site. It lies at the end of the arboretum, so the motive was that when a visitor comes here after seeing all the beauty of the arboretum, he could observe his memories and the visuals he just got familiar with. So, this was a place where one could reflect on themselves. The entire facility is all under the ground so that when people go up a slope led by a long wall, they will see a small opening and a long aisle. It would be like an all-new world for the visitors to see a landscape different from the one they first saw.

9. Wa Sun Jai

The Residential house project in Bundang- Gu, South Korea, is making new modern houses where the existing traditional houses were already made. The site and the context were like an origin of life for the client and a place where the trace and remembrance of life are compressed. The design revolves around the concept of a pond snail and how he lives inside his skin. He grows up by eating his mother’s skin.   “The new residential mass is long arranged surrounding the Korean-style house. With this, the mass is being a fence outside. Moreover, it could form an outside space between the existing Korean-style houses” (ArchDaily 2010).

10. Hwa Hun

The Residential project is located in Seoul, South Korea, whose more important requirement was ‘living in nature’. The house’s name, ‘Hwa Hun’ means a blooming house. The site is near Bukhansan Mountain and has a polyhedron shape that gives maximum space. The architects, while designing, created an architectural hill to harmonize with the area’s natural topography. Various leveled gardens have all the inside spaces of the house buried in green nature..

11. So Da Hun

The Residential project’s site is located in the heart of the downtown, having an irregular polygonal-shaped area. Using techniques like going vertical, skipped floors made the maximum visual range possible with such an area of 100 sqm. Architects have gone horizontal in making the bamboo garden to connect the house with nature. Stainless mesh is used as a significant covering material. “The translucent images which are consisted with stainless mesh that filtrate the sight from opposite church and side stores and direct sunlight, are the major impression of this house” (ArchDaily 2010).

12. Island House

The Residential project is a floating site on a river confronting the natural landscape. Along with the main structure’s concrete, the house comprises a central courtyard filled with water, which is also the extended part of the river. This is the prominent central space that connects the river and the architecture. The house has a stepped roof with various levels that add to the Greenland area.  The design revolved around making the house part of the context, which is the river and the mountains.

13. Office Park- NG

The main aim behind designing this office space was to offer an interesting and exciting space for all the employees to rest and stroll in this hybrid space. “We designed the programs of stepped garden, JungJa, bar, lounge, etc., to enjoy the free strolling.” (ArchDaily 2015). All places were signified to some activity of office having traits of a park or garden so that the efficiency of employees could be increased by interaction behavior. The designers aimed to make a traditional but modern office landscape by amalgamating wood and glass in terms of material

14. 925 Building

The site is located in the backstreet of the cheongdam intersection, where the context buildings show their unique forms. The area is surrounded by old facilities which are more than ten stories high. There is a set of column beams, one above the other, and the rest of the structure is cantilevered, which leads to maximizing the interior space without any columns. This is how the mass of floors was decreased on the higher floors of the building.

15. Stella Fiore

Stella Fiore is a world different from the world, which is away from the lazy urban landscapes and stressed city spaces. It is a group of 19 houses. The shape of the houses depicts architectural stars having enough privacy from their neighbors with the use of slant walls. The clerestory windows are given to let nature enter the interior spaces. The space between the masses formed a strolling pathway creating a picturesque view of the opposite landscape.

References:

1. IROJE. (2021). Myeongjeong Meditation Garden. Arch Daily.
2. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/963525/myeongjeong-meditation-garden-iroje-architects-and-planners?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab [ Accessed: 28 June, 2021].
3.  IROJE. (2010). Wa Sun Jai. Arch Daily.
4. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/60614/wa-sun-jai-iroje-khmarchitects?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab [ Accessed: 20 May, 2010].
5. IROJE. (2015). Hwa Hun. Arch Daily.
6. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/616980/hwa-hun-iroje-khm-architects?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab [ Accessed: 9 April, 2015].
7. IROJE. (2010). So Da Hun. Arch Daily.
8. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/61755/so-da-hun-iroje-khm-architects?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab [ Accessed: 29 May, 2010].
9. IROJE. (2009). Island House. Arch Daily.
10. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/37021/island-house-iroje-khm-architects?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab [ Accessed: 6 October, 2009].
11. IROJE. (2009). Island House. Arch Daily.
12. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/37021/island-house-iroje-khm-architects?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab [ Accessed: 6 October, 2009].
13.  IROJE. (2015). Office Park-NG. Arch Daily.
14. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/623511/office-park-ng-iroje-khm-architects?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab [ Accessed: 28 April, 2015].
16. IROJE. (2018). Stella Fiore. Arch Daily.
17. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/915847/stella-fiore-iroje-khm-architects?ad_medium=gallery [ Accessed: 26 April, 2019].
18.    Kim, Hyoman. (2017). IROJE KHM Architects.
19.    Divisare. (2014). IROJE KHM Architects: Ga On Jai.  
20. Available at: https://divisare.com/projects/275971-iroje-khm-architects-ga-on-jai                     [ Accessed: 23 November, 2014].
21.    Divisare. (2017). IROJE KHM Architects: Tetris Nursery.  
22. Available at: https://divisare.com/projects/345508-iroje-khm-architects-sergio-pirrone-tetris-nursery [ Accessed: 29 May, 2017].
23.    Divisare. (2017). IROJE KHM Architects: Flying House.  
24. Available at https://divisare.com/projects/338916-iroje-khm-architects-sergio-pirrone-flying-house [ Accessed: 3 March, 2017].
25.    Divisare. (2016). IROJE KHM Architects: White Boat.  
26. Available at https://divisare.com/projects/309214-iroje-khm-architects-sergio-pirrone-white-boat [ Accessed: 1 February, 2016].
27.    Divisare. (2014). IROJE KHM Architects: Kyeong Dok Jai.  
28. Available at https://divisare.com/projects/275973-iroje-khm-architects-kyeong-dok-jai   
29. [ Accessed: 23 November, 2014].
30. Divisare. (2014). IROJE KHM Architects: Lim Geo Dangi.  

Available at https://divisare.com/projects/275972-iroje-khm-architects-yong-kwan-kim-lim-geo-dang  [ Accessed: 23 November, 2014].

1. Mairs, Jessica. (2015). Concave walls give a scalloped outline to mixed use block. Dezeen.
2. Available at https://www.dezeen.com/2015/08/11/iroje-khm-architects-archi-fiore-mixed-use-buiding-yongin-south-korea/ [ Accessed: 11 August. 2015].