yinjispace

ARCHITECTURE
Order Matter
PHOTOGRAPHY
Simone Bossi
EDITOR
Gina
Collection

Raw House is a mixed-use development located on the East side of Seoul, South Korea, designed to harmonize with its natural and urban surroundings. The project includes a café, residential flats, and a penthouse that also serves as an office space. Its southern façade frames expansive views of the surrounding lush foliage, inviting nature into the interiors, while the northern façade takes a more reserved approach, creating a buffer from the street. This contrast highlights the project’s tectonic design, with the bold materiality and clean lines establishing a strong architectural presence that balances openness and privacy.

Raw House reconsiders how buildings in dense urban contexts can offer stillness, focus, and connection to nature without isolation or visual clutter. It challenges the idea that more rooms, higher density or decorative finishes define value. Instead, it prioritises lived quality and sensory clarity. One quiet innovation lies in how every square metre was intentionally used. A semicircular stair landing reduces unused corner space, acts as a street-facing visual marker, and allows an opening on the north — framing a view of the building’s own geometry while softly bringing in light without compromising privacy.

The southern orientation of the building guides the entire spatial layout. Living areas are placed to benefit from full sun exposure and framed views of the wooded hillside, while private rooms are placed to the north, buffered from noise and light. Ceilings are freed of visual noise by omitting direct lighting. Instead, indirect lights wash walls softly from their ceiling junctions, creating an ambient and restful atmosphere. This also allows occupants to personalise the space with lighting and furniture of their own choosing.

Passive strategies define the spatial layout. Communal living spaces and the kitchen face south, taking full advantage of daylight and seasonal warmth. Bedrooms are located on the north side, shaded from direct sun — supporting better sleep and reducing cooling demands. The building’s concrete structure provides thermal mass, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night, while also helping to moderate indoor humidity.

Lighting was carefully considered to support rest and cognitive ease. Instead of ceiling-mounted lights, concealed indirect lighting gently washes down from the ceiling’s edge, softening the space and encouraging relaxation. This creates an environment that is both visually calm and physiologically supportive, particularly in the evening.

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