SUSEO LIBRARY

This proposal details the design for a new Public Library in Suseo-dong, Seoul, conceived not merely as a repository for books, but as a vibrant hub for diverse community formation among local residents. Architecturally, the building achieves this goal by utilizing an innovative spatial strategy: individual, specialized areas—such as the quiet reading rooms/study halls and the dedicated Children’s Library—are clearly defined, but are deliberately positioned around a central, magnificent atrium-style volume.

This central volume houses the shared common spaces, effectively acting as a communal heart that encourages interaction and connectivity between various user groups. Further enhancing its connection to the urban and natural environment, the structure incorporates multiple, distinctively designed terraces situated between the main building masses.

These terraces are strategically opened to the landscape, offering contrasting yet engaging views: specifically framing the natural beauty of Daemosan Mountain to the west, and providing a visual link to the nearby residential complex to the east, making the library a thoughtful interface between the community and nature.

Year : 2024

Location : Seoul, Korea

Size : 4,817.11m²

Status : Competition Entry

Type : Library

Principal in Charge :

Seojoo Lee, Hyojung Kim (I.f), Dongil Kim (I.f.CDL), Minho Lee (func. Architects)

Collaboration : Jongkil Kim

INCHEON GEOMDAN CULTURAL COMPLEX

The Site is a Corner condition placed between the dense residential complexes to one side, and the Neighborhood Parks 13 and 15 to the other side. In the large scale, the Cultural Complex will be an extension of the U-shaped thread of Neighborhood Parks and especially the Lake in No.3 Cultural Park. However, in responding to the two distinctive zoning conditions, the Museum•Library Cultural Complex will produce a gradient of spaces in order to merge and take advantage of the two physical conditions the New City zonal plan offers. In response to the dense City edge, a homogeneous and hard form will emerge by organizing the volumes in an “L” composition. As one enters deeper into the Complex and closer to the edge adjacent to the Park and the Lake, the volumes disperse and the singular form breaks to provide a more intricate conglomeration of volumes, walkways, as well as interior and exteiror conditions. This seamless transition of spatial composition will allow a smoother transition of the cityscape.

To Geomdan New City, the Museum•Library Cultural Complex becomes a landmark because of its seamless integration as a place for the Everyday Life activities to unfold. It is a sacred place only because of its flexibility to accommodate any and all Everyday Events of the Everyday People of the New City. The form is simple, weighted, and informed by the Go-in-dol. The horizontal overlays of spaces and spatial groupings allows for the act of gathering and spreading of programs but mainly of people. The physical boundaries between the programmatic volumes are less defined as it merges and divides seamlessly from one to the other. The in-between spaces that are mostly walkways of varying thickneses; sometimes lobbies; sometimes open spaces for different programs, all serve to break the rigidity and hardness of the Complex. Instead, the layered composition allows for fluid movement within and throughout and beyond the Cultrual Complex.

Year: 2024

Location : Incheon, Korea

Size : 27,377 sqm

Construction Cost : Incheon-si

Year : 2023

Status : Competition Entry

Type : Museum, Library

Principal in Charge :

Seojoo Lee, Hyojung Kim (I.f), Allie Yeseul Chung (I.f Manila), Dongil Kim (Kyung Hee University), Minho Lee (func. Architects)

Environmental Engineering : Dongil Kim

JANGSEUNGPO LIBRARY

Jangseungpo Port was designated as a trading port in 1965, and it was a lively and diverse place where different people and things gathered and dispersed. The library for the people here should be functionally excellent, faithfully fulfilling its role as a place for preserving the collected books and sharing knowledge, and the proposed urban space is a public space but also a very personal place that individuals can privately own but is primarily a public space. It is a place where sharing and enjoyment coexist and are separated, where individual experiences are gathered, accumulated, and defined, and ultimately, a new library is proposed where space is configured from considerations for the community, and a new type of space that can contain both daily and non-daily experiences is presented as a truly meaningful public space for the city.

Starting from individuals and reaching out to many, it ultimately becomes a library for everyone - overlapping and intersecting with the activities and traces of individuals and groups to create a diverse and resident-friendly library. As people, objects, spaces, time, and memories accumulate, they form a complex public space - the library is designed to faithfully fulfill its primary function. It also incorporates intangible libraries that surround and embrace it. Here, each generation can gather, overlap, and share space together, or enjoy it individually as needed. The diverse library accommodates and embraces the community.

The library projects and embraces its surroundings through the material of its unobtrusive form - rather than standing out in its relationship with the city, it is a humble library that guards its place. The significance of the metal exterior that fully receives and respects the surrounding area is crucial. Depending on the characteristics of the material, it can project and absorb the surroundings, enveloping and reflecting them. The colors and textures of the city and the surrounding greenery will dye the library exterior like an image.

Year: 2021

Location : Geoje, Korea

Size : 1,595 ㎡

Status : Competition Entry (2nd Prize)

Type : Library

Principal in Charge :

Seojoo Lee, Hyojung Kim (I.f), Allie Yeseul Chung (I.f Manila), Dongil Kim (Kyung Hee University), Minho Lee (func. Architects)