An interactive outdoor pavilion in Anyang, South Korea, pays homage to Korean traditional culture while celebrating the natural environment and the biodiversity of the area. The pavilion, named the Bojagi Lounge, offers a circular space with doughnut-like rings for people to come and sit in to spend time in nature.
The Bojagi Lounge, conceptualised by Madrid-based architectural practice Izaskun Chinchilla, features a circular layout surrounding a central tree trunk with two main elements: a ring of hanging doughnut-like units, and a similar ring of grounded units. The fabric-covered hanging units, supported by a structure surrounding the tree trunk that doubles as a bookshelf, contain speakers that reproduce birdsong and lamps that illuminate the area at night. The grounded circle features the same fabric-covered rings acting as seats for the public.
Drawing inspiration from Korean heritage and reflecting on how the circular economy is part of traditional Korean cultures, the design of the pavilion incorporates two traditional Korean elements: bojagi and norigae. Bojagi is the traditional Korean fabric used to cover, wrap and transport any household item, food or gifts; often serving as reusable gift wrapping, it can be made from a single piece or small pieces of fabric stitched together like patchwork quilt. Norigae is a Korean knot-tassel decorative pendant or good-luck charm worn by women. Using donated outdoor fabric, the design team wrapped the rings bojagi-style, while the design of the suspended rings emulates dangling norigae.
The pavilion was designed for the Anyang Public Art Project, a public art event that ‘encourages its participants to reimagine how they understand and perceive the city’ with a series of public art installations that transform the city into a living gallery. ‘In our proposition, we wanted to present the time we spend in nature as a gift,’ states Izaskun Chinchilla. ‘We are offering a space to read and to listen to birds singing in the entrance garden.’
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Photographs: Izaskun Chinchilla Architects, DongWoong Lee.
