[A Sip of Books] Yuhyunjun's Humanities Architecture Journey

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with the reader’s heart, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

Architect Yu Hyun-joon introduces 30 architectural works that impressed or inspired him. Architecture is a crystallization where human thought meets the material world. Since it requires significant capital, it can only be completed when many people’s opinions align, making it a reflection and a cross-section of society. Through these buildings, he sheds light on how people of the time viewed the world, their technological level in handling materials, socio-economic systems, understanding of humans, dreamed utopias, and struggles for survival.

Bathhouses are the architectural structures that use and handle the most water among human-made buildings. Therefore, how water is expressed in a bathhouse is crucial. Water is the source of life. (...) The ‘Vals Spa’ by Zumthor seems like a building that says, “I will show you what water means to humans.” At ‘Vals Spa,’ you can experience various aspects of water beyond just bathing. When you enter the cold bath, blue petals swirl inside the illuminated bathtub water. The blue petals visually convey the sensation of cold water. Conversely, red petals whirl in the hot bath. (...) ‘Vals Spa’ creates a cave-like dark space where the extremely sensitized senses inside allow you to fully feel the restrained light and the tactile sensation of water?an ultimate sensory space. It is an architecture that makes you feel alive with your whole body. - pp. 183?184 (Chapter 10. Vals Spa)

Even now, the water level of the Han River continues to rise and fall, but when viewed from afar, we cannot perceive these changes in height. However, there is a moment when we notice the change in the Han River’s water level?when the ‘Jamsu Bridge’ is submerged. Unlike other bridges, the low ‘Jamsu Bridge’ is submerged whenever the Han River’s water rises slightly, making it impassable. At this time, the ‘Jamsu Bridge’ acts as a device that translates subtle natural changes into spatial changes, allowing us to perceive them. If the ‘Jamsu Bridge’ had been built with very high piers, it would not have served this role. The low-height pier design created a function that spatially transforms natural changes. I call architecture like this ‘architecture that allows dialogue with nature through architectural space.’ It is a kind of ‘spatial interpreter.’ The ‘Querini Stampalia’ is also this kind of architecture. The water level in Venice has always fluctuated. The building ‘Querini Stampalia’ allows people to more sensitively perceive these changes through spatial changes. - pp. 189?190 (Chapter 11. Querini Stampalia)

Yu Hyun-joon’s Humanities Architecture Journey | Written by Yu Hyun-joon | Eulyoo Publishing | 492 pages | 19,500 KRW

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