Earth Works: Houses by Byoung Cho

324 pages

Earth Works: Houses by Byoung Cho offers a unique glimpse into the residential buildings of one of Korea’s most influential architects. The monograph presents this lesser known aspect of Cho’s work through stunning photographs, plans, drawings, paintings, and models. The architect’s unique take on the world and his surroundings is brought to light by his brilliant writing.

Centered around fifteen private and rarely seen residences, the book begins with some of Cho’s earliest projects—Concrete Box House (2004) and Earth House (2009)—­which explore the emotional impact of place through low-­ intervention and minimalist rural structure, and finishes with three new housing types that his practice is experimenting with. By intertwining the theoretical underpinnings of land architecture with practical project descriptions, this book creates a holistic narrative that bridges the conceptual and the concrete. It also explores Korean architecture’s enduring concern with establishing a relationship with the surrounding landscape, something that is rooted in the country’s distinct terrain and cultural foundations. Insightful texts by Cho preface each project and complement this elegant and poetic survey, delving into his architectural influences alongside the ideas of experience, perception, and the Korean concepts of mak and bium (imperfection and emptiness).