[5x17]Daecheong-dong Small House / JMY architects

Curated by ArchDaily

Architects: JMY architects
Area: 192 m²
Year: 2014
Photographs:Joonhwan Yoon
Construction: CS Construction

[5x17]Daecheong-dong Small House / JMY architects - Windows, Cityscape — © Joonhwan Yoon

Text description provided by the architects. A residential building with 5m wide and 17m height discovers new possibility and expandability in suburb housing

[5x17]Daecheong-dong Small House / JMY architects - Stairs, Handrail — © Joonhwan Yoon

The project is to introduce new possibility of small scale housing and expandability of human life as an alternative method for suburb area vitalization against large scale development projects such as new town developments. The site which was formed in the era of Japanese occupation is of 5m wide and 12m deep, and of narrow rectangle shape facing north. This project is about discovery and utilization of inevitably derived space which can’t find any meaningful architectural alternatives away from legal or physical limit caused by regulations of parking, direct evacuation stairs and micro close proximity to neighbor buildings.

[5x17]Daecheong-dong Small House / JMY architects - Facade — © Joonhwan Yoon

The building consists of the ground floor with commercial area, the 1st floor with community area, and the upper floors of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th with housing facilities, and it is a new urban housing and community complex which covers from economic activities to living and urban leisure activities.

[5x17]Daecheong-dong Small House / JMY architects - Facade, Windows, Handrail — © Joonhwan Yoon

Narrow site condition

The site is of 5m wide along the main street and 12m deep, and of small area with 66㎡. It had inherited difficulties to construct parking space and direct evacuation stairs connected to the commercial district. Therefore it was vital to utilize the derived space from the limited environment condition with North faced with form and micro close proximity to neighbor buildings.

Expanded space of living

The building provides a new urban housing and community complex. While the project originally started with a request to renovate a two storey commercial facility, it ended up being expanded as a complex facility having a commercial area as a main income resource for the client on the ground floor, a community area on the 1st floor as a gathering space for local people and housing programs on the upper floors of 2nd, 3rd, 4th floors. The building suggests expandability of its program from economic activities to living and urban leisure activities.

Space as a medium

The project promotes space as a medium for urban life where life expands toward the city and city life merges into one building.

Condensation of time

It is studied in the project a way to bring back the life time of 60 years old client who abandoned the life of suburb area and left for the new town 30 years ago.

The old new scene

The project explores the potential of forming a new cityscape in human scale which was set in the era of Japanese occupation, against desolating urban environment due to large scale urban developments.

Vertical alleys

It offers and interesting and cool circulation by space forming of vertical circulation that encourages a communication with neighbors though its narrow and meandering shape.

[5x17]Daecheong-dong Small House / JMY architects - Image 32 of 35 — Diagram 6

Challenges to the limit of local construction

The project challenged the limit of local construction which faced technical limit and difficulties to establish a quality access due to the very narrow site condition.