Beomeo Scholar’s Accoutremen
A Spatial Fusion of Living and Exhibition, Evoking Diverse Perspectives and Cultural Experiences
Chaekgado, a traditional Korean folk painting from the Joseon Dynasty, is a type of still-life composition that artfully arranges stacks of books and everyday scholarly items in a dynamic, zigzag pattern. These paintings depict ceramics, stationery, and bundles of books tied in cases, freely yet harmoniously placed within the structured grid of a bookshelf, reflecting the refined spirit of Joseon scholars. Chaekgado captures the essence of scholarly ideals and daily life within its grid, creating a beloved representation of personal worldview and cultural identity.
During a similar period in the West, the Renaissance sparked a heightened interest in art, leading affluent classes to immerse themselves in culture. To distinguish themselves from the lower classes, they created Cabinets of Curiosities—spaces for displaying rare and exotic objects, revealing their inner worlds through spatial arrangements. Chaekgado, in this sense, shares a kinship with these Western spaces, embodying a blend of Eastern and Western cultural expressions.
This project begins with a vision to spatially integrate the client’s diverse art collection, harmonizing vibrant cultural elements with daily life to create living spaces with unique identities, where residence and exhibition coexist.
The shelves of chaekgado are organized in a rhythmic grid system, establishing a foundational order while juxtaposing microcosms within each compartment. Like parallel universes, each grid cell reveals its own distinct character, with objects arranged to evoke their unique emotional qualities from different perspectives. This multi-perspectival composition could inspire a new approach to urban residential architecture, where diverse spatial activities are vertically layered.
To leverage the small site’s characteristics, the design stacks five floors, inspired by Donald Judd’s vertically arranged boxes, applying a parallel hierarchical principle. To avoid the sterility of uniform volumes, each floor is distinguished by unique materials and spatial atmospheres, with carefully curated artworks enhancing their individuality. An internal staircase pierces through the floors, breaking vertical separations and fostering connectivity.
The lower floors, dedicated to exhibition, adopt the neutral aesthetic of a white cube gallery, displaying artworks in a modern format. In contrast, the residential spaces integrate artworks into the flow and character of daily life, creating spatial narratives. Within a single residential volume, multiple internal worlds coexist in parallel, yet the staircase allows inhabitants to move through these spaces, experiencing a dynamic interplay of perspectives akin to navigating a three-dimensional painting. Though physically three-dimensional, the spaces are interwoven with the fantastical worlds of artworks, offering ever-shifting viewpoints and spatial experiences within everyday movements.
“Since the Renaissance introduced perspective,
has humanity, by viewing the world through calculated vanishing points,
become trapped within the coded grid of visualized space?
Perhaps artworks, each with their own worldview,
liberate us from the confines of rigid spatial systems,
as if offering salvation.”
As one wanders through the blurred boundaries of exhibition and residential spaces, scattered artworks harmonize with each space’s unique character, enhancing their distinct identities. Windows on one side open to a “park view” and on another to a “cityscape view,” allowing contrasting external elements to intersect with the user’s movements. These openings, capturing the shifting light of time and seasonal changes, act as messengers, interacting with the external environment and inviting novel experiences into daily life, much like the diverse artistic worldviews of the displayed artworks.
While the building separates exhibition and residential functions with distinct volumes and entrances, its internal spaces are used fluidly without rigid boundaries. Though simple in form, the volume houses varied internal cells, reminiscent of chaekgado’s organic arrangement of objects. Using GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete), a robust yet flexible material, the exterior subtly reflects the diverse, layered interior spaces within a cohesive, sculptural volume.
Just as chaekgado expressed the dignity and spirit of Joseon scholars, this Beomeo Chaekgado—a residence and art exhibition space—manifests the cultural passions and worldview of its inhabitants. By distributing diverse artworks across the five floors, each living space is imbued with a distinct character. Within these vertically stacked cells, artworks and everyday objects intertwine with the residents’ lives, functioning as a “relational text” that generates meaning and embeds their inner worlds into the space.
