Signs of the zodiac

Moon – one of the architects who contributed to Korea’s Golden Lion-winning Venice Biennale pavilion of 2014 – designed the two mixed-use buildings for a site in Goyang, a town located north-west of the South Korean capital.

The brief called for one building for the client and a second for his younger brother. The architect took this idea one step further by treating the two structures as twins, with facades that line up with each other. This was emphasised with the addition of the spherical recess, which extends across both facades to create two moon shapes – hence the name of the project, Two Moon.

Both structures are three storeys high and stand two metres apart. Together they form one venue, but they stand as two separate buildings. The negative space between the two forms an interesting tension.

The circular motif on the facade is echoed by various window openings around the building. Large round voids allow extra light to permeate the walled-in roof terraces, while a semi-circular balcony sits within one of the curved recesses on the facade. There is also a series of smaller perforations on the facade that resembles star constellations. These both correspond to the horoscopes of the two clients.

Story by Nic-Kaiko Follow him on Instagram kaiko_design

Photography is by Nam Goongsun.