Architects: AEA_Atelier Espace Architectes
Area: 120 m²
Year: 2025
Photography: Rohspace
Lead Architects: Yun Sung Young, Kim Saes Byeol
Design Team: Kim Dong Wook, Choi Gwang Hyeon
City: Jinju
Country: South Korea
C104-9 House by AEA_Atelier Espace Architectes is situated in Chungmu New Town, a planned residential district of Jinju, South Korea. Unlike organically developed neighborhoods, the site is surrounded by an uneven urban landscape, which prompted the architects to design an inward-focused home prioritizing privacy and tranquility. Built entirely of red wide-format brick, the house is defined by a curved, semicircular base that anchors two distinct volumes above, creating a sculptural yet unified composition. At the heart of the house lies a central Madang, an open courtyard visible from most rooms, which provides natural light, ventilation, and a visual anchor for daily life. With communal spaces connected to the garden on the ground floor and private areas located upstairs, the layout balances openness with seclusion. Over time, plantings within the courtyard are intended to soften the brick and further integrate the residence with nature.
In the midst of Chungmu New Town’s fragmented urban fabric, AEA_Atelier Espace Architectes approached the design of C104-9 House with a deliberate turn inward. Rather than competing with the surrounding visual noise, the architects framed a calm and sheltered domestic environment that relies on spatial intimacy and controlled views. This retreat-like quality begins with the building’s base, a curved red brick form that reads as both sculptural and protective, lending the residence a strong sense of identity within its context.
The choice of wide-format red brick as the sole material establishes continuity across the project. Its carefully twisted and curved arrangement creates sharp details at close range, yet when viewed in its entirety, the structure appears softened, almost sculptural. Above this base, two volumes rest with measured clarity, distinguishing the home while binding it into a cohesive whole.
Central to the experience is the Madang, the traditional Korean courtyard reinterpreted here as a contemporary void. This open-air core is visible from nearly every part of the house and organizes the interior sequence of spaces. The ground floor’s communal areas connect seamlessly to both the garden and the Madang, offering residents a layered relationship with the outdoors. The upper floor, dedicated to private rooms, maintains this connection through framed views into the courtyard, preserving the sense of openness without compromising seclusion.
The architects emphasized circulation as an architectural event, where movement through the house becomes as significant as the rooms themselves. Voids, sightlines, and shifts in light choreograph the experience, transforming modest proportions into a spatially rich environment. Over time, as trees and plantings grow within the Madang, the architecture will continue to evolve, softening the rigor of its brick surfaces and bringing an organic balance to its carefully crafted order.
C104-9 House thus emerges as a study in restraint, where a limited palette and compact scale are elevated into a thoughtful response to context, privacy, and the rhythms of daily life.
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Project Location
Address: Jinju, South Korea
The location specified is intended for general reference and may denote a city or country, but it does not identify a precise address.
