The Heyri Chronotope Wall project in Paju-si, South Korea addresses a fundamental urban design problem: how to create visual and spatial order in a city where diverse architectural styles, materials, and forms compete for attention. UNSANGDONG Architects Cooperation responded by returning to the wall as the most basic architectural element. Rather than adding another complex structure to an already chaotic urban environment, the team used wall systems as the organizing principle for the entire project. Understanding modern wall system construction helps architects select the right approach for projects that prioritize spatial clarity over decorative complexity. The site covers 1,223 square meters with total floor area of 1,231 square meters across three floors, built with reinforced concrete to a height of 12 meters. Architects YoonGyoo Jang and ChangHoon Shin led the design team of ten professionals from May 2018 to project completion in May 2021.
The Role of Walls in Creating Urban Order
The Heyri Village area is characterized by a wide variety of architectural approaches with no consistent ordering system. UNSANGDONG recognized that adding another unique building would only deepen the problem. Instead, the architects designed a building that uses walls as the primary organizing gesture. This approach draws on a rich architectural vocabulary of wall types and spatial definitions that architects have developed over centuries. The wall here is not merely an enclosure but an active spatial device that defines, separates, and connects different zones within the built environment. Walls of varying thickness, height, and opacity create a gradient of privacy from the public street edge to the most private interior rooms, giving the building a clear spatial hierarchy without relying on signage or decorative elements.
How Walls Define Space in Urban Contexts
Walls perform multiple functions beyond simple enclosure. They create boundaries that give form to outdoor spaces, direct pedestrian movement through a site, establish privacy gradients from public to private, and act as visual backdrops that unify disparate elements. In the Chronotope Wall project, the architects used the wall as a continuous surface that folds and turns to create rooms, courtyards, and passages without relying on a conventional box-with-rooms layout. This approach reduces the number of distinct building elements and creates a more unified architectural statement in an otherwise fragmented urban context where no two neighboring buildings share the same design language.
Wall as Urban Infrastructure
When a wall is thick enough, it becomes inhabitable. The Chronotope Wall incorporates storage, seating, and circulation paths within its thickness. This transforms a two-dimensional surface into a three-dimensional spatial experience. The building footprint of 574 square meters and total floor area of 1,231 square meters across three floors shows how wall-based design can achieve high floor area ratios without increasing the building envelope. Inhabitable walls range from 600 to 1,200 millimeters in thickness, compared to standard partition walls that measure 100 to 150 millimeters. The extra thickness pays for itself by eliminating the need for separate furniture, storage units, and circulation corridors, freeing up net usable floor area.
| Wall Function | Spatial Effect | Example Application |
|---|---|---|
| Boundary definition | Creates outdoor rooms | Courtyard enclosure, garden walls |
| Circulation guidance | Channels movement | Entry sequences, corridor definition |
| Privacy gradient | Layered transition | Public to private zoning |
| Inhabitable thickness | Integrated functions | Storage niches, seating alcoves |
| Visual unification | Coherent backdrop | Mixed-use frontage, campus design |
Understanding the Chronotope Wall Design Concept
The term chronotope, borrowed from literary theory, refers to the interconnection of time and space. Applied to architecture, it suggests that walls can register the passage of time through their materiality, weathering, and the changing patterns of light and shadow across their surfaces. UNSANGDONG Architects Cooperation previously won the Seoul Architecture Award Grand Prize in 2018 for the Sopoonggil Community project and the Public Space category in The Plan Award for Hannae Forest of Wisdom. These recognitions highlight the firm commitment to experimental architecture. The Architects Foundation scholarship programs invest in the next generation of architects who will continue developing these spatial ideas for diverse communities and contexts worldwide.
Design Period and Construction Timeline
The project design ran from May 2018 through October 2019, followed by construction from December 2019 to May 2021. This 18-month design phase reflects the complexity of developing a wall-based spatial system rather than a conventional floor-plan-driven approach where room layouts come first and walls are inserted afterward. The 12-meter building height accommodates three stories within a reinforced concrete structure, with the ten-member design team contributing expertise across architectural design, construction documentation, and site supervision. The built area of 574 square meters on a 1,223-square-meter site leaves generous outdoor space between the building and property boundaries.
The Design Team Structure
The design team included YoungDong Goh, SangHyun Choi, EunSol Ko, ARa Cho, NaRye Han, SoHyun Yim, MyeongGil Jung, and SeoYeon Joh working under lead architects Jang and Shin. This team size is typical for a building of 1,231 square meters and provides sufficient bandwidth for both design development and construction administration. Photographer Sun Namgoong documented the completed project. The team met regularly with structural engineers to coordinate the reinforced concrete wall layout with reinforcement detailing, ensuring that the architectural vision for thin and thick wall sections could be realized structurally without compromising either design intent or structural safety.
Structural and Material Considerations for Architectural Walls
The Chronotope Wall uses reinforced concrete as its primary structural material. RC construction allows for the long spans, cantilevers, and variable thicknesses that wall-based architecture demands. The 12-meter building height and three-story configuration require careful attention to lateral load resistance, particularly when walls serve both structural and spatial functions. Architects specifying wall systems benefit from understanding the full range of architectural terminology related to wall construction to communicate design intent to contractors and engineers. The choice of RC over steel or timber was driven by the need for monolithic surfaces that read as continuous planes rather than assemblies of smaller panels with visible joints.
Reinforced Concrete Wall Construction
RC walls in architectural applications differ from purely structural shear walls. They must accommodate openings for doors and windows, integration of building systems within the wall cavity, variable surface treatments on interior and exterior faces, and connection details at floor and roof intersections. The wall thickness in the Chronotope project varies to create shelves, benches, and display niches carved directly into the concrete volume. This approach requires coordination between architect and structural engineer because changes in wall thickness affect the reinforcement cage and the load path through the building frame. Rebar spacing and concrete cover must be adjusted for thinner wall sections.
Formwork and Surface Finish Options
The quality of cast-in-place concrete walls depends heavily on formwork design. Plywood formwork produces smooth surfaces with visible grain patterns that add texture without additional finishing cost. Steel formwork creates uniform, glossy finishes suitable for high-end architectural applications. Board-formed concrete leaves textured impressions from rough-sawn lumber, creating a warm, natural appearance. The Chronotope Wall likely used custom formwork to achieve the specific surface quality the architects envisioned. Formwork costs typically account for 40 to 60 percent of the total concrete wall construction cost, making formwork selection a critical budgetary decision.
Design Team Collaboration in Architectural Projects
UNSANGDONG Architects Cooperation operates as a multidisciplinary group spanning architecture, gallery operation, publishing, art production, and interior design through entities including gallery Jungmiso, UNSANGDONG publication, UNSANGDONG art, and YOOEDI interior. This cross-disciplinary structure allows the firm to approach architectural problems from multiple perspectives. Questions about ownership of architectural plans and design rights become relevant in collaborative practices where multiple entities contribute to a single project and each party may claim intellectual property in their specific contribution. Clear contractual agreements among collaborating firms prevent disputes over design ownership.
Awards and Recognition Track Record
- 2018: Grand Prize of Seoul Architecture Award (Sopoonggil Community)
- 2018: Winner of Public Space Part in The Plan Award (Hannae Forest of Wisdom)
- 2018: Top Prize of Seoul Architecture Award and Completion Building part of Korea Architecture Culture Award
- 2017: Korea Space Culture Award Street-Yard Prize (Minister Prize of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)
- 2017: Best 7 Architecture of the Year (Korean Institute of Architects Prize)
- 2017: Grand Prize of Korea Public Architecture Award
International Recognition and Guest Lectures
The firm has been invited to guest lectures both domestically and internationally, positioning them as worldwide architects. Their work on projects including Bogojae, the University of Seoul landscape complex, and Gallery YEH has contributed to this reputation. This trajectory demonstrates how industry partnerships and cross-disciplinary cooperation strengthen architectural practice by bringing diverse expertise to each project. The gallery, publishing, and interior design arms inform the architectural work with insights from art criticism, exhibition design, and furniture detailing that a pure architecture firm would not develop organically.
Wall Systems for Spatial Communication in Diverse Urban Settings
The Heyri Village context presented a specific challenge: a collection of diverse architectural statements without an ordering principle. The Chronotope Wall responds not by competing with its neighbors but by establishing a clear spatial framework that organizes the building and its immediate surroundings. The wall becomes both the structure and the statement, eliminating the separation between architectural skin and spatial experience. This approach to resolving conflicts in architectural specification and construction through clear design intent creates buildings that communicate their purpose without decorative additions. The project demonstrates that architectural restraint can produce more meaningful spatial experiences than compositional complexity.
Lessons for Architects Working in Unplanned Urban Environments
- Assess the existing urban context before deciding on an architectural approach, identifying existing ordering systems or the lack thereof
- Consider whether subtraction and restraint serve the site better than addition and expression of individual architectural identity
- Use a single organizing element such as a wall rather than assembling multiple disparate volumes that compete with the surrounding context
- Design walls with inhabitable thickness to maximize spatial efficiency within a compact footprint and eliminate separate furniture pieces
- Coordinate structural engineering with architectural intent from the earliest design phases to ensure the wall concept remains buildable
The 1,231-square-meter floor area across three floors demonstrates that wall-based design does not sacrifice programmatic efficiency. The site area of 1,223 square meters and built area of 574 square meters leave generous outdoor space while maintaining a floor area ratio of approximately 1.0. This balance of built and unbuilt space reflects the wall-as-infrastructure approach where the wall mediates between interior and exterior rather than simply separating them. The project stands as a reference for architects seeking to bring order to fragmented urban landscapes through disciplined use of a single architectural element applied consistently throughout the building.