SPACE-[ESSAY] Living on the Boundary

SPACE February 2026 (No. 699)

We are not simply building houses. We set forth diverse values that emerge from the act of dwelling, from the relationship between the city and nature, and from realms that extend beyond human communities.

Chronotope Wall House (2015) ©Sergio Pirrone

Internal Experiment

In Unsangdong’s architecture, the house is not a fixed private space but a complex field in which individual interiority, family relationships, communal ethics, technological environments, and urban structures intersect. Accordingly, the house is not a space defined by physical boundaries or a closed protective shell, but a semi-transparent apparatus that selectively breathes with the outside world, and an ecological system that organises the rhythms of everyday life. In their early experiments, Unsangdong sought to reconfigure means and modes of dwelling by redefining architectural elements.

In Chronotope Wall House (2015), the walls – traditionally closed due to structural constraints – are transformed into communicative structures connecting the family with the city, becoming tools that generate new approaches to living. Just as the automobile reshaped perceptions of time and space on roads, the walls of Chronotope Wall House create intermediary spaces that allow diagonal visual connections across the courtyard, living room, study, and individual rooms, thereby expanding the spatial experience.

Cube House (2023) explores the idea of an internal courtyard. Located at the centre of a 3 × 3 modular structure, the courtyard functions as both a physical centre and an emotional axis. It deepens spatial layers and overlaps circulation, integrating private and communal spaces. This courtyard enables three-dimensional communication among family members, reorganising familial relationships and revealing the essence of dwelling as an integrated life.

Buamdong House (2014)<...

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Jang Yoongyoo

Jang Yoongyoo is a progressive architect who investigates architectural phenomena and believes that a physical reality originates from architectural concepts. After graduating from Seoul National University’s Department of Architecture and its Graduate School, he founded the Jang Yoongyoo Architectural Experiment Atelier, which later evolved into Unsangdong Architects. His practice focuses on an architecture that responds to the changing and dynamic conditions of a new era. Jang has been awarded the Korean Architecture Award, the Seoul Architecture Award, and the Korea Institute of Architects (KIA) Award, and has gained international acclaim through awards and features in prominent international media outlets. He is currently a Professor at the College of Architecture, Kookmin University.

Shin Changhoon

Shin Changhoon graduated from the Department of Architectural Engineering at Yeungnam University and the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Seoul. He co-founded Unsangdong Architects with Jang Yoongyoo to pursue and realise experimental and conceptual architecture. He has dedicated himself to archiving and promoting Korean architecture through his leadership of platforms such as ‘Space Coordinator’ and ‘Architecture Sympathy’. Having served as a Seoul Public Architect, he currently acts as the General Architect of Suseong-gu and the Vice Chair of the Suseong International Biennale. His broader contributions to public architectural culture include his tenure as Chair of the Young Architects Committee of the KIA. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Seoul.

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[ESSAY] Living on the Boundary | Unsangdong Architects

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[ESSAY] Living on the Boundary | Unsangdong Architects

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