Photography is not intentionally directed. It only captures what it is (it has purity in itself) and can only be produced in large quantities. However, movies are different from photography. A film is a collection of numerous pieces edited for intentional directing, and it must contain ideology and message.
_Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
As Walter Benjamin mentioned, a film is a collection of numerous image fragments that have been edited with intentional directing. The director directs scenes planned according to the scenario on a camera to convey the intended message and directs them in various techniques. The cuts of these fragmented images come together to form a scene, and these scenes come together again to form an overall plot, and the film ultimately has a narrative.
In the novel My Lime Orange Tree, memories of the past come up and pass by us as images, but we often miss and pass the meaning. Over time, these images shine a light on the traces of the past and become present in a new sense. This is not just a scene that has passed, but an image that is newly illuminated and interpreted over time. Benjamin explains the unique temporality of these images with the concept of a "dialectical image," and sees that a dialectical structure exists within it. He also interprets the image modernly through the concept of constellation, paying attention to the variable and fluid "moving constellation," unlike the fixed constellation of "invariance," which Lukachi calls. Just as an infinitely new constellation is created depending on which of the countless stars in the night sky is selected and connected, the overflowing image sculptures in modern society are free to create new narratives and messages through editing.
Architects, like novelists and film directors, use various editing methods to create a specific space. For example, when sitting on the Daecheongmaru of traditional Korean architecture, the exterior view unfolding between the rafters and the low fence looks like a picture in a frame. The car-shaped (借景) technique properly draws the beautiful scenery outside, emphasizes what you want to show by adjusting the direction of the building and the height of the fence, and edits the landscape by removing what you want to cover from view. In addition, it is also important for architects to plan the space so that the viewable landscape action takes place at an important point in consideration of the user's movement.
When designing hotels or resorts, all rooms are often arranged in one direction to maximize the beautiful island view. However, this method is not always ideal. Modern architecture aims for a complex space that accommodates various programs, and the daily experiences of users who spend a long time within a building are also considered important factors. Therefore, rather than arranging all spaces in one direction just because there is a wonderful view in one direction, it is necessary to configure each space to have its own characteristics and to show different landscapes from a unique perspective.
The site of this project is an inclined site located in a complex alley, located in the center of Gangnam, Seoul, providing an open view in all directions. However, the scenery viewed from the middle and upper floors was unexpectedly very confusing. The city spread out in all directions was visually distracting because it contained so much information, and instead of the beautiful panoramic view that I expected, I could see a lot of buildings and complex cities at a glance. Users would only experience monotonous and boring repetitive landscapes if the building was wrapped in a transparent glass curtain wall to expose the same urban landscape on all floors. There was a risk of losing the diversity and depth of the landscape in everyday life, and this could give the impression that the same large picture of the city was attached to every floor.
To solve this problem, this architectural project was designed in a way that each space intentionally divides and provides various landscapes instead of showing the same landscape. This is to create a unique atmosphere for each space, as the fragments of the urban landscape are newly edited in each floor. By forming such a unique landscape, it was considered to avoid the monotonous urban landscape and to provide a new visual experience to users in each space.
This project was designed by borrowing the concept of 'Polyomino'. Polyomino refers to a mathematical figure that combines several square pieces to create various shapes, and by using this concept, a space with unique characteristics of each layer was formed. The structure was constructed so that the scenery seen from each floor was differently revealed, and the scenery covered from one floor was newly revealed from the other floor, and a completely new scene was created from the other floor. Through this, while providing a unique view on each floor, the entire building interacts with the city and creates a variety of visual experiences. Such a spatial arrangement allows users to experience fragmentary images of the colorful city, and changes in visual experiences on different floors and spaces further expand the user's senses. Just as scenes edited according to the director's intention form narratives, users in this architecture create their own daily narratives through their own visual experiences in space. For example, looking at Namsan Tower in the office, thinking of new ideas, or presenting in the conference room while immersed in work against the backdrop of a high-rise forest, the daily scenes overlap to form a sequence, thereby completing the user's daily plot.
If the film is edited according to the director's logic, in architecture, users directly experience and move the space, and perceive the space in their own way. Through this, users create new narratives on their own in their daily lives.
