Site Specific: Gartenhaus

architectural/practice, Hongcheon, Korea, 2021

a/p The ‘Nongmak’ is the smallest typology in the residential market of South Korea. Its origins are as a garden shed to help with farming and gardening, but it is now popular as a small house, particularly in rural areas. Since the building code was revised in 2012, allowing Nongmaks to have electricity, gas supplies and a septic tank, they have become very popular.

A key restriction for these buildings is that they are not allowed to be bigger than 20m² and, as they are generally prefabricated by building contractors and transported by road, they are usually rectangular in plan measuring 6m x 3.3m with a height of 3.6m. This fixed volume has become typological.

This particular house is 4.5 metres high, slightly higher than most garden houses. It is still recognisable as a typical ‘Nongmak’ but is also slightly unusual. Internally the extra height means that the building is not just ‘a room in a garden’ but can contain a number of different spaces, becoming more ‘house-like’. In South Korea residential ceiling heights are often around 2.3 metres so this internal height of 4.2m is significant.

The generous internal height is revealed when entering the structure via the decreasing scale of the entrance sequence. As you enter the building beneath the overhanging roof canopy, the small, triangular-shaped stair exaggerates the incremental change in scale. As you descend the stairs to enter the garden the effect is reversed, making the natural environment seem bigger, heightened; these subtle changes in scale amplify the way that this house is situated between a garden and ‘wild nature’.

In the garden, beyond the overhanging roof, the ellipse-shaped gutter connects more directly with the environment by feeding rainwater into what was built as an artificial pond. The gutter demonstrates how architecture forms its own relationships with nature, beyond those of the humans who do not occupy this weekend house permanently.

The stair and the gutter are interactive architectural elements that resonate with natural elements.

NOTES

Many thanks to Sungbum Heo at architectural/practice for sharing this project with us.

Posted 4th September 2023