A mountain village in Gangneung where the ice skating heats of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics are held, Gwaneum-ri was named after the Korean Buddhist term, Gwaneum-bosal, who embodies the compassion all buddhas and local people believed that she appeared a long time ago. This area is vulnerable to fire due to the dry wind from the mountain to the East Sea under the influence of local climate in Gangneung. The forest fire that occurred in May 2017 spread along with the spring wind from the west to the downtown of Gangneung, damaging many houses and forests. Amongst them, a house in Gwaneum-ri was also damaged that the couple and their daughter who were recovering after childbirth lost their shelter. On this heap of ashes, we had to build a new house as if to plant an apple tree of hope.
© Joonhwan Yoon

Architects: Architecture Studio YEIN

Location: Gangneung, South Korea

Category: Houses

Lead Architect: Yesun Choi

Team: Myungsun Lee, Jeongmee Kim, Nalae Choi

Area: 99.59 m2

Project Year: 2017

Photographs: Joonhwan Yoon

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