Reduction to white: Residence and studio by AEV Architectures

In contemporary art and architecture, white is a 'colour' imbued with associations and various levels of meaning; it also is a symbol of purity and abstraction, simplicity and clarity in many places. Shades of white are an object of examination in numerous works of non-representational art, and in the 1920s the colour white stood as the expression of a new era in architecture. Richard Meier is probably the best-known architect for providing all his buildings with a grid-pattern façade in white, an approach he retains to the present day.

After the architects at AEV Architectures of France saw the South Korean site offering views of Mount Seorak with its breath-taking rocks and colouration, they cast around for an appropriate architectural response. The design they came up with for the private residence and studio is a composition of simple forms. The dematerialisation of the house with its facade in white acrylic resin panels serves to emphasise the wealth of forms and colours in the natural surroundings.  The colour white also determines the indoor living quarters, with the result that the views of the outdoors determine the atmosphere inside the house.