Steven Holl Architects

Daeyang Gallery And House

Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan

DAEYANG GALLERY AND HOUSE

Steven Holl Architects

ARCHITECTS
Steven Holl Architects

CATEGORY
Gallery, Houses

LOCATION
Seoul, South Korea

PROJECT YEAR
2012

AREA
1760.0 m²

Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan
Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan

Text description provided by architect.

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,” which was discovered in a book by John Cage titled “Notations.”

Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan
Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan

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.

Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan
Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan

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.

Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan
Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan

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 the skylights cutting through the wood ceiling. Exteriors are a rain screen of custom patinated copper which ages naturally within the landscape.

Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan
Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan
Daeyang Gallery And House
© Iwan Baan


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Daeyang Gallery And House
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Daeyang Gallery And House
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Daeyang Gallery And House
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Daeyang Gallery And House
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Daeyang Gallery And House
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Daeyang Gallery And House
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Steven Holl Architects
T +1 212 6297262 F +1 212 6297312
Steven Holl Architects
450 W 31st St 11th floor, New York, NY 10001, United States