Saemoonan Church / Seoinn Design Group + Lee Eunseok

Curated by Paula Pintos
CHURCHES • JONGNO-GU, SOUTH KOREA
Architects : Lee Eunseok, Seoinn Design Group
Area : 4219 m²
Year : 2019
Photographs : Juneyoung Lim
Lead Architects : Dongkyu Choi, Eunseok Lee
Structural Engineer : The Naeun Structural Engineering Co.Ltd.
Construction : CJ Engineering & Construction Co.Ltd.
Mechanical Engineer : Mac&MEC
Supervisor : HanmiGlobal Co.LTD
City : Jongno-gu
Country : South Korea

Textual content description offered by the architects. Saemoonan Church proposed 4 distinct church development themes as fundamental pointers; ① the historicity because the mom church of Korean protestant church buildings, ② the symbolism of doorways open to heaven ③ the spatiality of expressing Christ as gentle, and ④ presenting a water house as a that means of baptism and concord. Therefore, we tailored the themes with Loving God and Loving Neighbors and included them within the design. Loving God was primarily portrayed via the use and symbolism of the house, and the features of Loving Neighbors had been expressed with the publicness via the exterior look and format impact of the building which are revealed within the metropolis middle.

Within the development of Saemoonan Church, the traditional spire was changed by a softly curved impact that’s open to the sky, and the extreme ornaments had been transformed into easy and summary expressions. As well as, moderately than specializing in exhibiting the authority of the church, the love and mercy of God had been metaphorically expressed with the curve of the gentle entrance. Moreover, as a substitute of making a solemn spatial environment with the frequent lengthy hall kind, a brand new periodic worship house was proposed with a fan-shaped chapel airplane that encourages the dynamic participation between believers.

The general public development intention of Loving Neighbors is clearly seen all through the architecture of Saemoonan Church, and this appears to be an architectural task that 21st-century church buildings should deeply think about. The yard of Saemunan-ro created by the hole entrance and bent arch gate, that are church architecture typologies that can not be discovered anyplace else on the earth, is meant to change into a sensible resting place of residents by opening the church to neighbors moderately than pursuing a reverent worship house with a closed nature like a monastery. The truth that steady communication was plotted via the foyer in the direction of the Sejong Heart for the Performing Arts additionally illustrates the openness of the church. Right here, the small chapel as nicely, which is able to deliver again the historical past by downscaling the present brick church, will likely be used as an lively open cultural house.

The clear glass field, supposed to look as if it was disappearing into the sky past the curved wall, not solely angles for a morphological concord that’s in distinction to the softly curved wall, however can be an architectural technique that goals to guard future generations from the congested streets and change into a brilliant Training Corridor with a rooftop backyard. Moreover, the highest flooring of the Training Corridor building and the excessive altitude house of the Cross Tower can change into a memorial house open to each citizen, simply as the numerous church buildings of the world typically open their high flooring dome to their neighbors, since Seoul’s lovely downtown panorama might be loved to the utmost.

Robinson Adey