Flowing House | Paju, South Korea | 2016

Architects: June Architects 
Client: Freelancer
General Contractor: Freelancer
Photographers: Yongkwan Kim

Flow House agonizes over spatial proportions and balance.

It is created as a calm yet powerful presence by manifesting a sense of tension akin to that of heavy elements floating in the air, both in and outside the house.

This house was built for two documentary makers. It is designed as a rich, pleasant space that related in a variety of ways to its exterior, in order that the occupants continued to enjoy being there even when spending the whole day reading and writing at home.

Flow House has no internal doors or walls, apart from around the toilet.

Though this could have made it seem dull, floors of four different heights are used to create a shifting sense of space. The level difference between the land and the site is about 2.1m.

The height of the ceiling is fixed but the floor levels are different followed to the level difference of the existing site.

The existence of the courtyard varied the privacy levels of rooms and each room has different ceiling heights.

The changes in outdoor scenery that occur due to horizontal and vertical movement create a dynamic relationship with the interior.

From the main room, located at semi-basement level, occupants look up at passersby; from the dining room, views of the near and middle distances are locked, so that the only views offered, from shoulder heights upwards, provide a feel of being surrounded by nature.

The floating walls of the study block off scenes of the crowded middle distance; the windows above and below offer views of the distant sky and the nearby ground, grass and legs of passersby, respectively, creating yet another new relationship with the world outside.

The building’s exterior is simple, but its dignity conveys its flow in a calm yet powerful way.