Gyeongjuok House / 100A associates
Text description provided by the architects. A place of light and darkness, shaded tranquility: “Gyeongjuok”
Enveloped by mountains and the sky, the first impression the site located in Sannae-myeon, Gyeongju gave — with natural shade and the faint containment of sunlight — was of the subtle dignity. We decided to greet this space, surrounded as if by a folding screen by the mountain ridge ahead, during the twilight of “around sunset” to morning rather than the typical visiting hours of the morning to night. This is because witnessing the dark, crepuscular sight held on the widely spread horizon did not simply feel like seeing a dark image but instead provided a moving experience that allowed us to forget the indecipherable sorrow and envy within us. With this Visualization, we aimed to avoid defining the shade cast on the earth as its limit and record a greater amusement.
The journey of this location begins with leading the flow of movement using a lump with coarse but hardy properties. This acts as the door of the boundary leading to a mellow world within the freedom of solitude in the middle of the world. Facing the shaded pathway passing through a bamboo forest, the sound of wind and the sunset projected on the serene pond relaxes the body and heart, and by assimilating to nature, amplifies the aperture between the self and the external world. Though the medium of transference exists, one becomes drenched in the atmosphere like Indian ink gradually diffusing on paper rather than through sudden variation, and the gradual erasure of cached traces allows for focus on rest. Moreover, in the process of entering and exiting the space, the openness toward the mountain and the sky creates an ambiguous boundary and humbly accepts the ambiance of the earth while still pursuing only the immersive, idyllic beauty found within the calm of unbroken silence through apt closure.
The simple yet immaculate properties observed when entering following the faintly glowing rays of sunset do not scatter the fragile light but rather accept it in fine detail. The artful friction between the light reflecting off of the simple wall and the shade displaying a variety of scenes from nightfall to the morning’s sunrise and perfusing the overall poetic concept is a key characteristic of this space. As such, the shadows entangled here and there at Gyeongjuok subtly imply the aesthetics of lower and softer sounds and deeper, thicker sounds. We hope you savor the elegant scenic flavor within.
