C change: Byoungsoo Cho moves a small mountain to bring place and time to this previously barren plot in South Korea

Architectural Review, The, Oct, 2003 by Rob Gregory

Can you change the history of a site? Well, as unlikely as it is, it was this question that most perplexed architect Byoungsoo Cho when faced with a barren site in Bockpori, South Korea. Flat and in need of repair, it was a site that was 'void of its past', having been 'run over and flattened by years of agricultural and human interference'. In response to this the architect sought to exploit nature's ability to sustain and renew, by creating a new structure and landscape that would over time become rich and expressive. The result was his rather logically named, C Shaped Metal Roof House.

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His solution came in three moves; two walls and an earthwork. The first, a rough cast concrete wall, shelters the second, a softer timber wall that defines the house's two principal masses (one for the client, and one for the client's mother-in-law). The third element, the earthwork, then addresses the space between the two masses, and consists of a mound that undulates in resonance with the distant hills to the south. Between the two masses, a tight tree-lined court draws visitors through to a shared entrance, where turning left leads directly into the guest suite, and right leads into the client's main living space and master bedroom, which overlook the terrace and distant landscape to the south.

While the walls dominate the composition, and are both punctuated by carefully placed openings, flush and pronounced, the paired volumes sit beneath thin metal roofs. These in turn extend to create covered terraces, and complete Byoungsoo Cho's three-line concept--roof, wall and earth.

Materially the palette is well balanced, with concrete, timber, and metal carefully layered and shifting subtly between horizontal shuttering joints and vertical boarding. The building yields to its man-made landscape, and while sills rise above boulders as if the house was built around a rocky outcrop, maturing trees begin to screen and protect.

While the external courtyards are contained and intimate, the principal internal space is spacious and bright. In contrast to the black skin that causes the courtyard to contract, internal walls are crisp and white. Sliding screens link living space and master bedroom, and with floors and windows lined with fine joinery, a crisp interior has been created, from where to enjoy the views to the regenerated landscape beyond.

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