Kyung Hee Cyber University ACAPeace Building Renovation / Chiasmus Partners

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Text description provided by the architects. This peculiar project is akin to the re-telling of a story, or the re-making of an old B movie.  It is as much about architectural language as it is about the creativeness that follows the life-story of the “situational condition” of the site and building.

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Located in the northeast part of Seoul (an area saturated with universities), the renovation takes an 1980’s reception hall and creates a hybrid building with dedicated academic office in the main volume, public lectures rooms in the basement and an open-air café on the roof terrace.

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Neither a preservation project, nor a classicism creation, the renovation of the main volume “distills” the formal architectural language.  The existing building’s classical order was “purified” and the proper “order” of columns re-established, achieving in the volumetric vertically of the major structural bays, which houses academic office and research labs.  A former secondary eave line was re-inforced to become the major entablature of the new façade, achieving a balance that was missing.

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The awkward roof top volume of the existing building was wrapped in gradient-fritted glass, achieving a cloud like effect.  This expresses the disparity in function from the main building; and also makes possible larger degree of view transparency from the roof-top café terraces.

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We find this project to be difficult to categorize: Is it a complete renovation?  Is it a classical creation?  Is it a classic-revival effort?  It is none of the above, and is the most interesting reality of the situation.

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