Just a quarter of a century old and the original Garak Wholesale Market has turned sour with residents complaining about traffic congestion and a rather unappealing smell from leftover vegetables amounting due to an inefficient logistics system.



Enter Samoo Architects & Engineers who's new plans for the space will now be realised after winning a design competition to regenerate the dingy market. Their plans are drastic and will generate, among many improvements, a massive 131 acre green park roof.

While correcting the issues from the original market a new public realm will be generated with the roof functioning as a giant public garden and a continuous pedestrian path along the East-West axis. The sinuous U-shaped landscape is set to provide a flexible public space for diverse recreational, sports and cultural activities and turn the market into a landmark for the city.

Below and around the undulating roof, floor space of almost 556,000 sq m will provide both wholesale and retail facilities, provided through two phases. The two functions will be distinctive and separate with a focus on efficiency within the wholesale quarter, and festivity within the retail quarter.

The navigation and location of produce has been managed based on lessons learnt from the previous design. For example, the rotten smells generated during late Fall’s peak season were derived from the Korean authentic tradition of making and preserving Kimchi, or pickled cabbage and other vegetables, at year’s end. So the area for radish and cabbage auction will now be located on a basement level to avoid smell at different levels and ensure quick auction and distribution.

Three pavilions with enhanced daylight and ventilation via Eco-tubes will replace two existing structures to provide a greater footprint for fruit and vegetables. Fisheries and Meat pavilions will be located at the northern edge to allow better access from delivery vehicles and will emit a night glow to give visual presence towards the transport.

An 18 storey office tower block presents as two slightly leaning oval shapes forming from a central atrium space that can be used for meetings and refreshment zones for the office staffs.


Samoo Architects & Engineers

The reed stream running through the city shapes the layout of the complex. The master plan focused on creating simultaneously a “green corridor” and “visual corridor” that cross the stream at a right angle as well as securing beautiful landscapes, which is one of the strongest advantages of the site.



The complex is faced with reed field and river to north west, green corridor and forest to north east and Mt. Simhak to south east. The layout of each household was designed to enjoy the outstanding landscape and natural beauty. As for households difficult to secure view to the outside, a courtyard was established within the complex to allow them to have a yard and private garden.

“Paju Hermann House” is an example to introduce “Townhouse Complex” for the first time in Korea. The fundamental theme of the housing project was to integrate the merits of a rural detached house and an urban apartment.




We intended to establish a duplex-type townhouse, they prioritized providing noise-proof measures between floors and breaking from the conventional building of uniformed ceiling height to ensure each household to secure utmost architectural space.



The townhouse combined the advantage of detached houses such as securing space through differentiated ceiling height, removing noise between floors, creating comfortable indoor environment through natural draft, protecting privacy and having individual garden and parking space and merits of urban apartment including construction cost reduction and efficiency, convenient maintenance and affordable management and security.

Architects: Ken Sungjin Min, AIA / Ken Min Architects
Location: Kyoha-eup, Paju-si, Kyunggi-do, Republic of Korea
Project area: 12,637 sqm
Project year: 2006
Photographs: Lee Jung-hun, Lee Gi-hwan

We know that we exist not as an individual, but as a unity of many, or even numerous individuals connected to each other. Creating an Publisher’s space is not just setting up the exhibition and office space and putting books in it, but drawing a map that covers all the works in the venue. It depends on the map how the viewer will appreciate the space and books.



Through the <publisher of Life & Power>, I have sought to insert ‘the vessel of new topography’ into homogeneous space. ‘The vessel of new topography.’ an intervention of a new imagination into the space, works as imaginary texts like those of Jorge Luis Borges. We will make-the “Contour Topography” a space for the’ new experience. The Contour space will reflect the real topography by applying the abstract image of it to the floor.

The theatrical “Topography” works as canvas for the life, but changes through various new media include book. The multi-purpose topography is an interactive map of office, club, show, seminar, lecture, performance, etc.



Architects: Unsangdong Architects
Location: Paju book city, Gyoha-eup, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Design Team: Jang Yoon-Gyu, Shin Chang-Hoon
Site area: 727.2㎡
Building area: 352.5㎡
Gross floor area: 995.77㎡
Construction period: June 2005 – February 2006
Photography: Namgoong Sun

Unsangdong Architects