Shortly after the summer workshop at Inha University, I signed up for a summer workshop at SA: Seoul Association of Architects (서울건축학교). Tutors were randomly assigned, and my tutor was Eun Young Yi of Yi Architects, who studied and worked in Germany; at the time he was teaching at Hanyang University’s Ansan Campus. He later got to design Stuttgart City Library.

Yanggu is a county in Gangwon-do, South Korea. The county borders DMZ and several Korean War sites are located there. It’s also famous as artist Park Soo Keun‘s birth place. Jong Ho Lee of Studio METAA, one of the tutors at the SA workshop, designed Park Soo Keun Museum in Yanggu which led to holding the summer workshop.

Our studio was in search of a ‘heart’ in Yanggu, such that would bring the city to life. It was a philosophical start; acknowledging how we relate to other people who share time and space with us, which is one of many characteristics urban space and architectural space provide. Thinking how the ‘heart’ would function for Yanggu in the future, we proposed a storage machine for written records of Yanggu and a library which is combined with the bus terminal.

Image below shows suggestive greening stages from Yanggu Central Market to Yanggu Information Center/Library/Central Bus Terminal.

Following image is a sketch I proposed; a sunken bus terminal which would lead traffic underground thus creating pedestrian friendly ground level with more space for green space.

Here is the section model of our proposal followed by section drawing and a site model.

After SA workshop, I visited Hanyang University to remake the section model with my teammates for the workshop exhibition. From his graduating students’ exhibition we found out most of his students’ designs follow Eun Young Yi’s design principles as in European guild-like teaching. The outcome of SA workshop resembled the Stuttgart City Library in many ways. Stuttgart City Library was a finessed version of many of his previous works and/or teachings.