SPACE August 2026 (No. 705)
A Living Room for All That Blends People, Nature, and Daily Life into a Single Landscape
Thanks to the digital environment, we can now easily access knowledge and information anytime, anywhere. So what significance do public libraries have today? They act as a living room for everyone—a place where anyone can stay, relax, and create memories for free. Hence, we wanted Gochang public library to be more than just a facility for storing books; we sought to create a public living room where people, nature, and everyday life seamlessly blend into a single landscape. Above all, we wanted the building to reflect the landscape of Gochang where history and nature coexist. By drawing inspiration from traditional Korean timber architecture, we incorporated a heavy timber frame structure and created a strikingly open space to make it a public landmark that would draw visitors to Gochang.
©Kwanwoo Lee
On a site stretching along an east-west axis, the 92m-long linear structure was oriented toward the south. To break up the monotony of the long structure, the roof ridge was rotated in opposing directions at each end, while the eave heights were adjusted to offer a modern reinterpretation on the column-and-roof proportions found in traditional timber architecture. Inside, bookshelves arranged along a long diagonal line and variations of cross-sectional area created by elevation differences generate diverse perspectives and flows within the elongated space. The variations in the roof, the proportions of the eaves, and the arrangement of the bookshelves create distinct spatial atmospheres within a single space, allowing visitors to experience the library as if they were strolling through a forest or reading a book under a large tree.
©Kwanwoo Lee
Diagram
You can see more information on the SPACE No. August (2026).
Hyunjoon Yoo
Hyunjoon Yoo is a Professor at Hongik University and registered architect in the United States (AIA, NCARB), he leads HYP Architects with Jon Jiyoung. He studied architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yonsei University, and worked at Richard Meier & Partners Architects. He has won numerous awards both domestically and internationally, including the Chicago Athenaeum Architecture Awards, German Design Award, Young Architect Award, Kim Swoo Geun Architectural Prize Preview Award, and the President’s Prize for Korean Space Culture Awards. He is known as a ‘humanistic architect’ for his diverse books and broadcasts that provide insight into the world through architecture. His YouTube channel, ‘Sherlock Hyunjoon’, currently has 1.45 million subscribers.
Jon Jiyoung
Jon Jiyoung is a Principal at HYP Architects and a licensed architect in the Republic of Korea. She received a Master’s degree in Architectural Design from Hongik University and built her professional foundation through practice at Chang-jo Architects and the Los Angeles–based firm Morphosis. Since 2018, she has worked alongside Hyunjoon Yoo at HYP Architects. Drawing on extensive experience across a wide range of scales and programmes – from large-scale cultural and mixed-use facilities to small religious and residential projects – she is currently exploring the intersections of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and culture while further developing and expanding the practice‘s design philosophy.
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