Interviews with Minwoo Ahn

When Urban Grove was planned, the design trend of commercial facilities in Korea was to reproduce world famous places. This is considered to be part of marketing for sales using symbolic keywords such as famous city or street names. We broke away from this framework and thought about the urban functions required by users who actually use commercial facilities in the urban infrastructure planned as an international new city. In the process, we realized that our target was divided into customers living in upper-floor apartments and customers visiting from outside by car or on foot. We also judged that residents of the adjacent old city center needed a convenient mall based on nature. As a result, we planned it as a common natural space within the city.

This grand commercial facility is planned to have retail in two layers on the floor plan. A circular alley is formed between these layers, and we decided to introduce different concepts and visual designs to keep users from losing their bearings and maintain interest and concentration in the commercial environment. From any point in the alley, the garden with the central pavilion is easily accessible, and it is easy to cross the garden to the other side. This allows users to efficiently conduct individual shopping and meet with their group.

First, we designed scenarios by target age and type. For example, couples in their 20s, strollers with infants in their 30s, and simple family pedestrians. Through this target analysis, we designed a landscape with a gentle slope without steps and landscaping that was not simply for ornamental purposes but also with tree species that could provide shade along with outdoor furniture. At the same time, we selected tree trunks that would not obscure the retail signs on the exterior. We added natural elements such as a pond to create a three-dimensional resting space.

We created a through passage connecting the east and west of Urban Grove, and we considered the local indigenous people to use this passage. Also, we planned to plant birch trees inside the sunken pavilion and create a spiral staircase to induce a natural passage along nature so that the main concept of this commercial facility, which is a natural garden, can be felt consistently from the underground. This staircase, which is only one floor, allows pedestrians to easily reach the center of the ground floor of the commercial facility without using the elevator.

We reviewed various types of pavilions, and the most important concept was that this pavilion should have an open roof so that the outside air can reach the basement. Considering the rainy season in Korea, we planned the basement level as a birch garden to ensure natural drainage, and we determined the width of the roof to prevent snow and rain when users use the spiral staircase. We applied metal to the indoor ceiling around the sunken area to spread natural lighting into the basement. Other technical aspects were resolved through collaboration with our partners.

In the case of large-scale commercial facilities, excessive emphasis on the concept can rapidly decrease the interest of users when they visit again. Urban Grove judged that it would be possible to maintain the interest of users through the various appearances of the landscaped garden according to the season using nature as a medium for a diverse user experience, and installed a fun sculpture called ‘Rabbit Met in the Garden’ at the main entrance to symbolize it. Through this, a welcoming image was conveyed to pedestrians across the street and to vehicle users approaching from a distance.

Typically, commercial spaces for sale focus on sales marketing, but Urban Grove was planned to target users who actually use commercial spaces. Based on virtual user scenarios for each type, the design of the facility was planned according to the narrative of the action, and as a result, it was easy to come up with ideas such as a garden without steps for strollers, selection of flooring considering snow and rain, a large outdoor flower pot and table set that does not easily fall over, and a bench under the shade of street trees.

The purpose is to intentionally blur the boundaries between the indoor and outdoor areas of commercial spaces by deeply flowing into each other. The reason is to three-dimensionalize and synchronize the user experience. You can see people resting in the sunken garden while walking down the hallway of an underground shopping mall, and you can rest in an outdoor shelter-type structure, which are all gradual phenomena. We are conducting research to eliminate physical boundaries in order to compound the user experience.

Through this project, we have proven that we can create a commercial environment that is attractive enough without having to reproduce famous overseas locations. What modern city dwellers need is to focus on the complex of experiences that can respond to various lifestyles and provide the experiences that actual users need. I think that a new model of sustainable commercial cultural space will emerge through a connection with nature. I think that design will be focused on being deeply studied and developed for this purpose.

Park Avenue is a densely populated commercial complex, and there were limitations in terms of the size of the site, such as the obstruction of traffic lines due to its own landscaping and rest areas. Therefore, after analyzing the surrounding environment of the site on a macro level, we found that the adjacent neighborhood park was linearly connected to the nearby subway station, and people mainly approached the subway station through this park. We planned to place the rotating swing and fountain in the closest location to the park, connecting the park and our site, so that people would naturally gather and pedestrians would flow in.

03. Vertical movement is very important for upper-floor tenants in commercial facilities with a high floor area ratio, which are three or more floors. Since the upper floors are mainly visited by users with a purpose, interest and concentration in the commercial environment may decrease. Although it was not realized due to budgetary issues, we proposed media poles or walls so that users can have a consistent experience across all floors. Another thing is that the transportation system on the upper floors should be intuitive so that users can easily reach them without confusion. Therefore, escalators were placed in accordance with the direction of movement from the first to the second floor, and elevators were placed at the entrance to the first-floor commercial area so that users can be transported to all floors efficiently.

In order to bridge the gap between shopping and resting, we studied the types of resting spaces. For example, the path-way type that is easily recognized within the range of vision while walking, and the type where you can stay and rest. This was accompanied by detailed planning such as arranging outdoor furniture at an angle that does not make eye contact with pedestrians, and resting spaces and design elements in appropriate places were placed to maintain the interest of the commercial environment and increase the user's stay time.

The Korean housing market has been gradually becoming smaller due to the increase in single-person households. In other words, the exclusive area used per person in residential spaces has become smaller. We wanted to relieve the stuffiness and provide leisurely rest to users living in these dense and compact urban lives through large spaces such as large spaces and courtyards. Users will have an experience that complements their home through park walks, sightseeing, and comfortable resting spaces. Through this, we hope that the commercial environment will function as a city living room for modern people.

Park Avenue was not able to provide enough outdoor recreation space of its own due to the limited land size. We were able to connect the adjacent linear park and the inner courtyard of the Avenue with play items that children would enjoy, such as a fountain and a swing that are not present in the park. This was planned to bring people together with their children in front of the park-side tenants and allow pedestrians using the park to naturally enter our site.

The architectural language of Park Avenue began with the symbolism of its location as the central commercial block. We wanted to create a façade that would be iconic in both the foreground and the background, unlike the many commercial facilities nearby. We designed it to convey rhythm and distinctive elements according to the speed of approach of pedestrians and vehicles, and through this, we wanted to give it a representative character as a commercial block. Thus, we wanted to draw in the residential complex surrounding the commercial block to this symbolic commercial facility.

Innovative ideas are easily damaged or degraded during the design process for various functional and institutional reasons. As a strategy for a new approach, we adopted the idea when the aesthetic elements match the functional purpose. For example, we applied the separate mass design with the entire curtain wall finish to the park side, and gradually changed the size of the louvers on the façade to convey a sense of rhythm considering the pedestrian's line of sight, but applied the louver design from the second floor, except for the first floor where the exposure should be maximized.

We believe that when a complex commercial facility is combined with content, its function is further enhanced. In addition to simply purchasing goods, users can enhance the quality of their experience through cultural content and rest facilities. They can pursue more diverse satisfaction according to their lifestyles within the commercial facility, and we believe that such a platform can sufficiently function as an urban living room in densely populated urban areas. Therefore, we expect that various platforms specialized for each regional urban environment will emerge in the future.

Modern retail forms are becoming increasingly complex. In that sense, Park Avenue can be said to be a type of general commercial facility with high density. We analyzed the user's approach, the flow of movement within the store, and the user's behavior throughout the process, and studied the necessary design based on the scenario. We believe that sustainable activation can be achieved when design goes beyond simply showing visual elements to users and provides the physical elements necessary for users according to time, place, and situation.

In the process of understanding the structure of the building, we first interpreted the structure of the ceiling of the guest bathroom in the basement and its relationship with the outside. In order to make the experience of this guest bathroom that guests will use more impressive, we suggested to the architect to dramatically increase the ceiling height and put a skylight here. As a result, the natural light coming down through the small skylight created by opening the ceiling slab conveys the change to the user, leading to a considerate and impressive experience for the user, and at the same time, the user can have an enhanced and special experience of this house.

It can be said that it is closely related to the lifestyle of the members of this house. Family members of different ages should be able to eat together and spend leisure time separately, and each person needs different experiences in the same space. To satisfy this, we set up various scenarios for movement and behavior, and focused on hiding advanced functions as much as possible. The materials used in the building were fully revealed in the interior, and the sculptural language of the building was continued into the interior to emphasize consistency. On the other hand, the interior design was planned to highlight the nature seen through the window, and the style of the interior design tried to appropriately convey the physical properties of the materials.

The original plan did not have the concept of a front yard in front of the building as it is now. We reviewed the ratio of the land and the building area and thought about the experience between the indoor and outdoor lawn. We set up a process so that users can enjoy the mirror pond indoors while being blocked from the outside and experience the light scattered in the pond at the same time, or go out and experience the water directly with natural elements such as grass and trees. For the garden stairs, we proposed a new design for the landing part and wall of the stairs designed by the architect to create a dramatic transition between the nature that users experience in the moving section and the artificial elements through the finishing materials. At the same time, the heavy stone finish on the wall of the stairs leading up to the garden was designed to make users using the cantilevered stairs feel psychologically stable. Through this experience, we wanted to connect users with nature in their daily lives.

We were able to reduce the gap between the design and the actual implementation through simulation. By confirming the results of the simulation and the application dimensions of the actual scale on site, we were also able to narrow the gap between the plan and the user experience. By repeating the work of confirming various materials related to the design derived from this technology with actual samples, we were able to effectively implement various scenes intended in the planning process, and through technical collaboration with partners, we were able to effectively hide the hardware.

The difficulty in configuring the fireplace of the Wave House can be said to be the difference in level between the dining and living spaces. For example, on the dining side, the height of the fireplace is close to the floor, and on the living room side, the height had to be considered appropriate when sitting on the sofa. At the same time, the opening at the bottom was designed to be experienced visually and functionally from both sides by setting the area as a natural material called fire. In addition, the hanging part was finished with a book-matching finish of large marble tiles that match the volume of the space, so that it functions as an object at the boundary between the kitchen and living room.

We decided on the interior and landscape design based on the user's psychological experience according to the orientation of the building and the positional relationship of the windows. As a representative example, in the case of the staircase in this house, the user inevitably experiences going up and down in their daily lives, so we proposed changing the design of the concrete stairs in the existing building plan to a steel-structured floating type staircase to bring in the southeast-facing natural light. As a result, we were able to develop it to what it is now through collaboration with architecture and structure. Through this, the user can experience natural light coming in through the stairs that are not dark, and at night, the pendant lighting in the void space creates a completely different atmosphere from the daytime.

This book-matching hanging wall has two roles in the space. First, it is a type of function as a boundary between the open kitchen and living room. Second, it is a visual role as a focal point in the space on both sides. We thought of an image that is processed but natural and symbolic at the same time, and thought about a boundary that is closed but open. At the same time, the final result is a boundary derived from an organic natural object like fire.

It took about 5 months for the first design simulation to come out. We started with interior design for a total of nearly 2 years during the construction period, and we developed the design without any boundaries, focusing on the user experience, from the architectural parts such as the indoor and outdoor stairs to the landscaping and outdoor design. Through this, we were able to harmoniously connect each boundary between architecture, landscaping, and interior, and through this, we ultimately aimed to connect users and nature more closely.

Considering the repetitive actions that occur in daily life in the home, this is not a trend, but rather affects the quality of the user's experience and the efficiency of household labor. For example, a device that allows even a child to easily and safely open a 3.6m high, thick front door using a high-performance hinge, or a device that dramatically exposes the outside scenery by opening the blinds in a large room at once, improves the living experience by making it easier for the user to use the space and experience nature more closely.