Prologue 

On small plots of land subject to strict north-facing daylight setback regulations, the form is almost invariably dictated by legal restrictions. Invisible lines tailor the planes, and these planes are stretched to form volumes. Consequently, the resulting "face" of the building is all too familiar to us.

I wanted to endow that familiar, monotonous, and characterless face with an expression. To reveal an expression rather than apply makeup—this became the pivotal objective of this project.

An expression holds the emotion of the subject, compelling the observer to interpret its emotional state. Because it is read differently and interpreted variously depending on the observer, an expression is inherently multi-layered.

"Grain" (Gyeol) is defined as the accumulation of layers formed by varying degrees of hardness and softness, density and porosity. We constructed these layers using materials ranging from transparent to opaque, from soft to hard. The porosity existing between transparency and opacity is crucial; the intervention of day and night, of time itself, will assist in this. Thus, I anticipate that it will become not merely a simple layer, but a "grain," revealing an expression from within rather than a cosmetic mask.

The Dwelling vs. The Earner 

In a capitalist society, the desire to increase one’s assets is natural. However, when that desire becomes excessive, it crosses legal boundaries, manifesting in real estate as speculation. Real estate speculation has been a malignant tumor disturbing the capitalist market order, a target for eradication by every government. In this era, real estate investment is naturally suspected of speculation, carrying a negative social stigma, yet it remains a dream investment destination for many.

Traditionally, the target of real estate investment was the apartment, pursued through upgrading, "gap investment," or leasing. For the majority of ordinary people who barely managed to afford a single home, the method was to buy a house where they lived in a location with guaranteed future value, then move at the right time or leverage spare funds and bank loans for gap investments. In this scenario, the value of the 'Living House' (The Dwelling) lies not in the act of 'living' but in the potential of 'earning.' The 'Living House' became the 'Earning House,' and a house was considered good if its earning value was high, even if it was unsuitable or uncomfortable for actual living.

In recent years, however, I sense a significant shift in the perception of the 'Living House.' Media introducing homes good for living has proliferated, and we see more clients positioning the value of a 'house' in 'family life' rather than 'assets.'

The housing typology that emerged reflecting this situation appears to be the ‘Shop-House’ (Sang-ga-jutaek). The basic form involves the owner residing in the building while renting out the remaining residential and commercial spaces. It is a state where the 'Living House' and 'Earning House' are unified. It seemed like an ideal, dreamlike method for those using a 'house' for real estate investment, leading to its widespread construction.

While the owner’s 'Living House' is designed to embody the will of the individual and family, capturing their desires, the accompanying 'Earning House' attempts to maximize so-called 'profit' through the physical count and area of rooms. The housing form resulting from this desire for the 'Earning House' established a market price for shop-house rentals, similar to apartment prices. To match this market price, it became inevitable to minimize construction costs for the 'Earning House' to offset the expensive land cost. It is a vicious cycle. It is a misfortune for both the landlord, who hopes to earn while living in their 'Living House,' and the tenant, who lives in the 'Earning House' without realizing their desire to live in a true 'Living House.'

One of the greatest advantages of the 'Apartment' typology is the ambiguity between the 'Living House' and the 'Earning House.' It depends solely on how the resident treats the space; the apartment itself, thoroughly anonymous and targeting an unspecified majority, does not take a stance. Under the competitive structure of the market, construction companies have consistently attempted to maximize value as a product, raising Korean apartments to a quite high standard. Even if they cannot satisfy every individual desire, they are optimized to realize universal needs, resulting in high satisfaction as a 'Living House.'

This is the point where the quality diverges from a house built solely for the purpose of the 'Earning House.'

Making the ‘Earning House’ like a ‘Living House’ To the client who planned to build an 'Earning House' for rental purposes, our advice was not about how much volume to stuff into the land to earn more, but to step away from the naked stance of the 'Earning House' and contemplate the 'Living House' together. This was not an unsolicited lecture on prioritizing public good over personal profit, but rather a belief that the value of the 'Earning House' is sustainable and does not depreciate only when it remains faithful to its role as a 'Living House.'

How can a small multi-family housing project in the city, with physical conditions different from an apartment, contain consideration as a 'Living House' rather than the blatant attitude of an 'Earning House'? Perhaps it sounds superficial, but we decided to imbue the house with an expression. The thought was: if we cannot replicate the convenience and comfort of an apartment, why not at least escape its shadow—its anonymity and expressionlessness?

An expression is the emotional form the object projects to the subject. For a house to have an expression means that the person living there does not merely occupy the space but exchanges emotions with the house. We believed this would be an important foundation for it to become a true 'Living House.'

The device we utilized to create this expression was a U-shaped aluminum louver, folded diagonally on one side.

This was not merely intended to create a change in expression viewed from the outside through a multi-layered composition of planes and lines. Rather, the greater expectation was that the resident—even in a small studio—could sense the various expressions the house is capable of whilst communicating with the outside world through the window.