AeLe House With 9 Rooms in South Korea by Nameless Architecture

Surrounded by lush forest in a quiet mountain range outside of Seoul, is a home draped in concrete by Nameless Architecture. The perfectly square, single storey dwelling named Aele House with 9 Rooms explores the concept of unfixed space and is an ode to flexible living. The spatial arrangement heavily references the nine-square grid championed by John Hejduk, Robert Slutzky, Colin Rowe and Lee Hirsche who all taught at the Texas University of Architecture in the 1950s. The concept is based on the transformation of a nine-square grid into a series of spaces using a set of rules and pre-defined kit-of-parts to create infinite interpretations.

When explored in architecture school, the nine-square grid exercise could exist without context; however, Aele House is heavily determined by its location. Forest surrounds the house on three sides and the arrangement ensures that each room encounters a different natural landscape through a window or a skylight. Eight rooms encase the central room that frames evocative sky views through a circular skylight. The home’s nine rooms are connected by a series of openings and thresholds, doing away with typical circulation and corridors.

Each room is 3.6 x 3.6 meters which is “minimum space for all habitable elements to function independently” according to the architect. Other than the bathroom and kitchen (where water is used), all rooms “can be used flexibly according to the residents’ needs and changing circumstances.”

Rough in-situ concrete is the predominant material used in Aele House. While it may come across as overly austere or bare, on closer inspection, “all the deliberate or unintentional processes that occur on site were left with natural marks on the surface.” These marks soften the robust material, enhancing tactility while revealing the delicate patina intrinsic to its creation.

All the fixed building elements were made from or finished with concrete including the entire exterior as well as internal floors, walls, ceilings, stairs, basins, bathtubs, vanities and benchtops. To counter the heavy-handed use of this material, flourishes of warm, honeyed timber are integrated throughout the dwelling forming doors, kitchen joinery and shelving.

Within Aele House countless modes of living are possible and coexist within its flexible framework. Nameless Architecture clarifies that rather than the architect defining the meaning of space, “residents create a free scenery of life” and the opportunity to imbue the home with their own narratives, histories and experiences.