Chungha Building | MVRDV

The Chungha building is located on the Apgujung Road of Seoul, which rose to fame with the sensational video of PSY. As a chic street, the Apgujung Road is home to several international brands.The Chungha building completed in the 1980’s had lost its place on the street to more modern buildings and was home to several brands unlike other single brand buildings.

photography by © Kyungsub Shin

The previous façade was covered all round with commercial messages competing for attention. The ground floor occupied by French leather accessories label Louis Quatorze was quite open, that of two plastic surgery practices above was hermetically closed to allow for discretion of their clients.The MVRDV response to this renovation took 9 months to complete and provided a radical rebirth to the building.

The concept the architects claim is more advertisement than architecture as they managed to provide enough advertisement space for the brands. As a building with multiple identities, the façade was transformed into a collection of shop windows. Curvaceous frames were found to be the best response to the large shop windows and Italian mosaic tiles became the façade material and that of the sidewalk. The large windows are filled with transparent posters, which provide space for the brands and discretion for the plastic surgeons practice.