Through our research for Gangnamness, our point of interest was the commerce life in Gangnam and the specific traditional typology mixing commerce and housing. The starting point was to ask ourselves about the interaction between commerce life mainly happening on the ground levels creating a fluctuation and the housing parts inside the narrow streets of Gangnam’s district. The idea was to find a balance through the project between these two. So we dealt with themes such as commercial development, fluctuation of the commerce linked to the economic context, and the invasion of commerce inside the living block mainly through billboards or spacial occupation.
The site is situated at the entrance of the urban tissue. The analyzed block is part of the low-rises buildings which are currently being developed, and still growing higher. It is located between two main commercial streets. The west one is wider and newer and the east one is part of the traditional marketplace. This immersion in commerce is the reason for the choice of the site.
The dualism between these two streets is an important theme in the project. The more modern street has been completely invaded by the shops, which is surely how it was developed. While on the opposite side a confrontation between the strong commercial line of small shops at the bottom and the housing unit on the upper floors can be analyzed.