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The new Gangnam style is this sloping-roof housing block in Seoul


The new Gangnam style is this sloping-roof housing block in Seoul

Your idea of luxury may be another’s idea of low-priced in South Korea

Image credit: designboom
Image credit: designboom

One of Asia’s most prestigious design gongs, the 2016 Korean Architecture Award, went to a residential development in Seoul near the city’s famous Gangnam district.

The 1,363-unit Gangnam A5 housing development by Korea Land & Housing Corporation wowed judges in the Collective Housing category with a design by architect Frits van Dongen. Making the most of the lot’s uneven topography, the project is spread out into five “tower block hybrids,” taking in a total floor area of 180,000 square metres.

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Characterising the project are the pitched, sloping roofs of the buildings, each of which undulates according to the lay of the land in a circle around a central, private courtyard. The architects also carefully positioned the blocks to maximise the permeation of sunlight into the courtyards, designated car-free to increase opportunities for schmoosing and informal encounters between residents.

While the project is located near one of Seoul’s most upscale areas, it is offered as an affordable housing development, for “low-income families” in fact, Low-income is not your kind of low-income in South Korea though, as the project offers 1,600 parking spaces, community facilities, and other kinds of amenities.

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Source: Property Report