Located in a residential area in downtown Seoul with physical regulations that create fundamental  environmental  constraints,  project  ‘MOTTAGI  99’  (The  word  ‘mottagi’  means cutting  off a corner : chamfering) blurs  the  many  rigid  boundaries  of  the  surrounding  area.  It  leaves  a  new gap in the standardized urban landscape.

This project started with a question about the typology of urban housing, which has become results of a combination of urban regulation and individual profit desires against it. ‘MOTTAGI 99’ is  a  five-story  multi-family  housing  for  five  families  and  with  a retail on the first floor.

Mass, Reorganizing density

Pedestrians come across the monolithic mass on the street, while visually facing the unoccupied ground space and the largely removed upper void of the building. This distinct fullness and voidness of the building mass is the result of being defined by  an  external  force,  like  a  clay creature. The external forces on this site are ‘laws, urban density, public and private distance’. This single mass works organically from the ground to the top, allowing the people to move and experience.

Within the limited site, the first floor reorganizes the density fiercely, solving  various required distances by law  including  entrances,  parking,  etc.  The  curved  volume  leads  visitors  from the street to the lobby while accommodating the program. It provides spaces to neighbors and pedestrians, being set back from the road. Lowered 700mm down  in  level,  the  retail  shop  attracts visitors separately. This level difference enables  outdoor  space  and  each  floor  to  have  necessary floor height under the regulation of entire building height.

The somewhat unfamiliar proportions of the chamfered(arch-shaped) shear wall that seems to support a heavy buttock reveals  the  contrast  between  the  upper  and  lower  parts  of  the  mass. This indicates the directionality of  pushing  up  the  mass  beyond  the  load-bearing  structural  column. The multifaceted chamfering was intended to soften the boundaries  between  sites  as  well  as  to relieve stiffness between architectural components.

Structure & Space

The ‘variation of chamfering’  of  the  mass  continues  inside,  and  it  is  further  amplified  in the 4th and 5th floor residences where the client’s family lives. Stairs lie through the gap in mass, and light flows in from the curved ceiling creating abundant context and texture. The parts that are pushed hard or boldly removed from the outside become a private terrace  for  each  housing, allowing them to have a comfortable distance between surrounding neighbors.

The public staircase of the building which represents structural beauty is also result from reorganizing density. The wall located at the center of the stairs supports the stairs by a cantilever structure, and at the same time, is an integrated body with handrails. This appearance reflects the compressive density of the servant space.