The House of Three Trees

Abstract

The House of Three Trees is the realisation of an architectural fantasy; the fantasy explores an alternate reality in which several historical events of the past century have not occurred. What if timber resources had not been depleted in the late Joseon Dynasty of Korea throughout the 17th to 19th centuries? In spite the exhaustion of timber stocks, what if globalisation had begun earlier and had introduced the affordable import of wooden materials from Russia, Canada, Northern Europe and Japan as today? Finally, what if the reinforced concrete structure had not dominated the architecture of the 21st century? Then, the timber buildings of East Asia may have continued to evolve. These premises afford an opportunity to return to the culture of timber architecture upheld for at least 1500 years, and may lead us to further experience a new architecture.

This house marks the rebirth of East Asian timber architecture, which disappeared 100 years ago. More specifically, the project is the reinterpretation of iconic wooden bracket systems ubiquitous in the East Asia timber architecture. Known as ‘Gong-po’ in Korea and ‘Dougong’ in China, the system was the most symbolic part of East Asian timber buildings from both a structural and aesthetic perspective. The house criticises the application of traditional buildings today, which can be superficial, merely imitating traditional expressions in architecture, or too abstract. Instead, the house redefines the virtue of East Asian timber buildings from a tectonic perspective, which is the combination of structure and ornamentation. Moreover, the house serves as an example of how contemporary technology, such as design computation and digital fabrication, can reinterpret traditional architecture. Technology can give East Asian timber construction the potential to evolve in a new direction.