Category A-2 Honorable Mention

Category A-2: Multiple Family Residential Projects
Honorable Mention

Award credit: Sinwook Oh    
Location: Busan, South Korea    
Photography: Yoon Joonhwan

The concept of this home was inspired by a desire to raise children in a community-living environment in the city (instead of typical apartment living), surrounded by family and friends, to build lasting memories of family, community, and co-living. The project began with two families and grew to include eight, with a total of thirty family members. 

This multifamily house is a unique amalgam of living together and having one’s own space. MoYeoGa, which translates to “Gathering House,” is a home that meets each individual household’s budget, as well as family composition and lifestyle without the need for excessive spending on construction costs, especially in a city center location. It fulfills each family’s dream of how they envision a home to be, as well their lifestyle requirements, through focusing on the relationship between exclusive and shared areas, introducing a collection of intermediate and transitional areas. The house also arranges differentiated floor plans, connection points, space composition, as well as finishing and construction methods tailored to each household’s individual preference—thereby designing the house in part and as a whole. 

The closing and opening of spaces are encountered at a natural pace, aided by widened corridors between units that extend the use and function of a typical hallway. The public space is designed as an extension of the private space to allow members of the home to run into each other. This is enhanced by visual connections that are established through windows and openings that look out to either private or shared gardens, or passageways. Spatial communication is arranged through terraces, courtyards, balconies, communal yards, decks, the swimming pool, and study rooms, which can be enjoyed and used easily by every household. 

The building of this home has since turned into creating a “small town.” By sharing their thoughts, day-to-day routines, ins and outs of raising their children, and their way of living, these eight households have become neighbors, friends, and family. The unique traits of MoYeoGa create the possibility of a new residential model in the city for Korean society.