Casa Gaia
Jeju Island, which has traces of volcanoes here and there as if it had just finished erupting, is a land where maternal nature is strongly felt. It is a place where a combination of black soil, cobalt-colored sea, and haenyeo (female diver), who live strongly in the sea, create a landscape.
Casa Gaia was built on the coast in Gimnyeong, Jeju Island. To the north, you can see Kimnyeonghang Port, and to the south, a roundish oreum (volcanic cone) called Goesalme (Mosanbong) works as a backdrop to the site. Gaia is the Greek mythical goddess of the earth, the mother of all things and the mother of the gods, and the mother of creation. The house was named after the god to symbolize the earth, the origin of all living things, because the design of this house began and ended with the awareness of the earth and site. Photography by © Youngkwan Kim
The site of the house was a tranquil land that was directly attached to the sea as if it were a resting place before oreum (volcanic cone) crossed the fields and crossed the two-lane road to dip its feet in the sea. It was, so to speak, a buffer zone that slipped between the volcanic cone Goesalme and the very soft jade-colored sea. And it was a place where people could look to the sea as they passed the road leading to Gimnyeong-ri from Jeju City.
Photography by © Youngkwan Kim
The client is a Jeju native couple who have long owned the land. What we agreed with the clients from the beginning was never to build a house with l...