Public merged into Music

architectural renovation

2012

seoul, republic of Korea

degree Project

 

Ruelle: the space between the bed and the wall

 

By Horace’s definition, “either to please or to educate”, Salon is a gathering for exchanging of ideas, which is initially held in ruelle; the space between a bed and the wall of a bedroom. Leaning on a couch and the edge of bed, intellectual and enlightening conversation inspires both the host and the invited; at the border of a personal and social realm. The spatial idea of ‘Ruelle’ gets combined with a social idea of ‘Salon’ in eight multi-household housings of the ’80s. The bedrooms of each unit stay as private table rooms for small parties. The space between a bed and the wall of a bedroom, then, starts to expand to bridge the units across, layout the corridor, and finally explode into a large hall for all artists gathering around.

 

Recalling Salon in Korea, which had been held in tea rooms in the ’80s, eight multi-household housings are merged into a hall of art. The existed housings reflect how people had dealt with the housing shortage problem in the ’80s. They were renovated spontaneously in order to maximize inhabitable spaces without new plots; attaching exterior stairs for access to all floors, extending and covering balconies, and transforming core staircases into rooftop houses. Instead of demolishing the outdated residences, these unique characteristics of the era get combined with the culture of the era, eventually, giving a new meaning for people to gather around.