Earth Works: Houses by Byoung Cho

Earth Works: Houses by Byoung Cho offers a unique glimpse into the residential buildings of one of Korea's most influential architects. This visually stunning monograph combines photography, plans, drawings, paintings and models to provide an exclusive overview of this rarely published aspect of Byoung's work. Focused entirely around fifteen private and rarely seen residences, the book takes as its starting point some of his earliest projects – Concrete Box House (2004) and Earth House (2009) – which explore the emotional impact of place through low-intervention and minimalist rural structures. At its core, this book aims to intertwine the theoretical underpinnings of land architecture with practical project descriptions, creating a holistic narrative that bridges the conceptual and the concrete. It also explores Korean architecture's enduring concern with establishing a relationship with the land, something which is rooted in the country's distinct terrain and cultural foundations. A number of insightful texts by Byoung complement this elegant and poetic survey, exploring his architectural influences alongside the ideas of experience, perception and the Korean concepts of mak and bium (imperfection and emptiness).