There was a boy who lived in a small mountain town, Noryangjin, Seoul in 1970. The boy, who was having financial difficulty, went to middle school in Gangnam and felt the mighty wall of harsh reality. Finally he chose a technical high school,but he could not even afford to buy just one reference book, unlike other students who received private lessons. However, the teachers recognized that he was smart so they helped him concentrate on studying rather than on technical skills. In this rare case, he who graduated from a technical high school entered theArchitecture Department at Seoul National University, and became a famous architect. He always thought in his mind: “I will put up a building everyone can enjoy, rich and poor alike.” He is Jang, Yoon-gyu, Architecture Professor at Kookmin University, who designed the complex cultural facility ‘Kring’ in Daechi-dong, Seoul and ‘Yehwarang’ in Sinsa-dong, Seoul.

Professor Jang has considered the ‘Social role of architecture’ and designed a dream building recently. It is the ‘Sungsoo Complex Culture Center’, which is now under construction. It is a 7-story building located in an old, shabby factory district in Sungsoo-dong, Seoul. There will be a theater, nursery, library, health center, and other welfare facilities for residents in this building. 

He has dreamed about making a ‘Kunsthaus Graz’ in Korea. “I want this building to be an accelerator which improves the quality of life of the residents living near the factory, and leads to city reproduction,” Professor Jang said atthe construction site. Kunsthaus Graz is an art museum located in Graz, Austria, designed by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, which is shaped like a spaceship. Its location was a slum, but Kunsthaus Graz made this area into a cultural district.    

Professor Jang has shown extraordinary shapesin his architectural style, and this building is also outstanding. Its key point is in its stairs. The structure of the staircasesis exposed outside, so it looks like the frame is outside. He utilized bracing (diagonal shaped structural frame) as staircases. They go up covering the outer wall of the building.    

The architect said: “I made ‘open stairs’ to give the feeling of breathing with the surroundings, without giving an exclusive image of public space.” Stairs are the extension of the road, and function in an open square. Residents come into the area of the stairs on the first floor, which is connected with the road. The scene of people going up and down composes the view of the building. White wire meshis hanging on the banisters of the stairs here and there. When the construction is finished, vines will grow on the wire mesh, and then the part of façade will become green. The inside is built geometrically because of the stairs crossing the inside and outside of the building. The inner wall is finished with an iron plate with holes in it, so the inside becomes brighter.   

The professor protested against some commentsthatit is mismatchedwith the surrounding shabby buildings. “One doesn’t need to build a shabby building because the area is falling behind. I hope people visit here to see this building. I would not build a building like this if I had to construct it in the Gangnam area, which is already elaborate.”  

This is a public building that is being built amid controversy about City Hall, the district office and other luxurious public buildings recently. Professor Jang said: “This welfare center will be used for residents so it carries out ‘governance’. Each public building has different functions. It is better to build several cultural facilities for city reproduction in the slums with our budget,rather than build public buildings like Seoul City Hall only for government employee use.”

“I will never forget when I look down the landscape of my childhood. Parents were driven out of their homes, and children were lost without family guidance in the alleys. My dream was having a comfortable library in my neighborhood where anyone can read books. I hope the welfare center that I designed will be a ‘dream factory’ where children can grow their dreams.” His dream is changing a factory district into a dream factory.

Original text :http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/08/16/2012081602772.html