LH RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX

Many developed countries that went through rapid urbanization are often left with unresolved questions about what their next step should be in public housing. Rushed developments that only focused on supplying the immense housing need have caused uniform, isolated and rigid lifestyles in the city. Economic growth followed by rapid cultural and social changes, however, requires a new type of communal living that is adaptable to various needs and future growths. H Architecture’s winning proposal for the Korea Land & Housing Corporation-organized design competition presents innovative solution to a new public housing development for an emerging city.

Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LHC) is a public agency that has been playing a significant role in providing affordable and high-quality public housing over 50 years in South Korea. Commemorating its half a century apartment building history, LHC called for a pioneering idea for its new housing development in a 77,000 m2-area site, located in M2 Block of Sejong, a new administrative city of South Korea. Through extensive analysis of issues with past apartment housing developments, H Architecture proposed a progressive concept, “not-to-define”, which is antithetical to common approaches in housing complex design.

Instead of planning the complex with rigid functions, H Architecture’s proposal pursues minimum set-up for living which allows the residents to freely choose and even create their own place and community. The project focuses on fulfilling three main strategies, i.e., providing interactive connection between streets and the complex, creating multiple community spaces distributed along pathways, and developing adaptable buildings and unit layouts. The proposed scheme not only supports autonomous and sustainable complex that fosters dynamic urban living, but also has the adaptability to future demographical and socio-cultural changes.