Over the past decade, the residential neighborhood of Gyeongridan-Gil in Itaewon, Seoul, has transformed from a run-down hillside neighborhood into a trendy enclave. The new Bookstore in Seoul, Graphic, specializes in Graphic novels, comic books, art and design books and was designed by ONN and U.LAB.
Graphic Bookstore, a four-story building nestled between low-rise brick-walled apartments, is striking in its creamy color and cascading outward and inward expansion. There are no regular visible doors and Windows on the facade, and winding paths guide guests "step by step" into the store's interior.
The vertical facade of the building was conceived from an old book that Kim Jong-u inherited from his grandfather with uneven binding pages. The curling shape of the parcel is inward, modest, textured and imprinted with time. The special skin material for the facade was designed by Kim Jong-u in collaboration with Chinese ceramic artist Liu Wenping.
