The deliberate use of hand-drawing techniques with physical materials enhances tactile sensitivity and increases dexterity. It also allows the drawing to explore indeterminacy during the design process and investigate design options and directions more freely and intuitively. The drawing becomes a critical tool for thinking, making design decisions, and articulating the final design while embracing a digital mode of representation and evolving into a hybrid drawing. It builds generative and descriptive potentials throughout the design process and becomes a single multi-layered composite drawing required for the design-build project.

 

The story behind_

 

The name of the eldest hen my mother has been raising is Miracle.

 

My mother decided to raise hens in the corner of her garden. She had experience raising them and said they were pretty and as friendly as dogs, and that it was so wonderful to get healthy eggs every day. Getting chicks was not difficult. My brother-in-law picked seven chicks from his farm and had my nephew deliver them to us. I built a chicken coop in half a day on the same day the chicks arrived, using typical coop nets and metal pipes. My mother was happy to see the little chicks soon to be grown up and laying eggs. But raising chicks did not go smoothly. Not too long after, there was an attack by presumably stray dogs. I found a big, torn hole in the net, and five chicks were left dead. Luckily, the two chicks escaped to the garden and were alive. My mother and I fixed the coop and covered up the bottom part so it would be hard for predators to tear the net. We thought this would protect the chicks, even though it could not be perfect. My aunt said the coop looked empty and bought four chicks to fill it up, so six were living in it. For a while, chicks grew peacefully, but another animal attack disrupted their growth, and once again, only two survived. We felt heartbroken. My mother talked about giving up raising hens, but we fixed the coop once more and reinforced it this time. It looked sturdy, and we hoped there would be no more attacks. The surviving chicks grew well for some time, and one started laying eggs. But there was another attack. It was so heartbreaking. One of the chicks was left bitten to death outside the coop, and the other, somehow surviving, was putting her head down at the corner, still terrified by the attack and missing all her tail feathers.

 

As an architect, I was determined to build a real coop. I delved into chickens' habits, researched ways to design a space that would ensure their happiness, and drew inspiration from well-designed chicken coops. The design of the new chicken coop was developed with numerous elements in mind, and I completed construction with my uncle's help. My mother named the young hen who survived three harsh attacks and was about to start a new life in the new coop, Miracle(Ki Jeok). The new miraculous space for Miracle was finally complete. She looked so happy as she moved into her new home. I felt both sorrow for being unable to protect her from the attacks and satisfaction at creating a worry-free coop. My mother bought five chicks to fill the new space, creating a new family for Miracle and naming each one.

 

Through designing and building the coop, I reassessed my human-centered perception that architecture is solely for the living and habitation of people. I realized that, in architecture, fundamental opportunity and genuine intent matter more than professional knowledge and technique. More than two millennia ago, Roman architect Vitruvius wrote in The Ten Books on Architecture that the three elements of good architecture were stability, utility, and beauty, and this has remained influential to this day. However, beyond fulfilling these principles, my experience designing and building the coop reaffirmed for me that architecture can create new values and help search for meanings in life.

 

This experience with the hens was a powerful reminder of the importance of gratitude. In our busy lives, we often overlook the miracles of our ordinary days, the health and safety we enjoy. This little journey with the hens reinforced the need to be always grateful for these blessings. It's a simple truth that gratitude attracts miracles, and this lesson resonates deeply with me.

 

Location: Yangju, South Korea

Year: 2023

Type: non-human housing

Area: 7.68㎡

Structure: light wood frame

Material: wood, galvanized corrugated sheets, metal pipe, brick, concrete masonry units (Drawing-Graphite on Korean paper, digital print overlay, 24x18 in.) 

 

The deliberate use of hand-drawing techniques with physical materials enhances tactile sensitivity and increases dexterity. It also allows the drawing to explore indeterminacy during the design process and investigate design options and directions more freely and intuitively. The drawing becomes a critical tool for thinking, making design decisions, and articulating the final design while embracing a digital mode of representation and evolving into a hybrid drawing. It builds generative and descriptive potentials throughout the design process and becomes a single multi-layered composite drawing required for the design-build project.

 

The story behind_

 

The name of the eldest hen my mother has been raising is Miracle.

 

My mother decided to raise hens in the corner of her garden. She had experience raising them and said they were pretty and as friendly as dogs, and that it was so wonderful to get healthy eggs every day. Getting chicks was not difficult. My brother-in-law picked seven chicks from his farm and had my nephew deliver them to us. I built a chicken coop in half a day on the same day the chicks arrived, using typical coop nets and metal pipes. My mother was happy to see the little chicks soon to be grown up and laying eggs. But raising chicks did not go smoothly. Not too long after, there was an attack by presumably stray dogs. I found a big, torn hole in the net, and five chicks were left dead. Luckily, the two chicks escaped to the garden and were alive. My mother and I fixed the coop and covered up the bottom part so it would be hard for predators to tear the net. We thought this would protect the chicks, even though it could not be perfect. My aunt said the coop looked empty and bought four chicks to fill it up, so six were living in it. For a while, chicks grew peacefully, but another animal attack disrupted their growth, and once again, only two survived. We felt heartbroken. My mother talked about giving up raising hens, but we fixed the coop once more and reinforced it this time. It looked sturdy, and we hoped there would be no more attacks. The surviving chicks grew well for some time, and one started laying eggs. But there was another attack. It was so heartbreaking. One of the chicks was left bitten to death outside the coop, and the other, somehow surviving, was putting her head down at the corner, still terrified by the attack and missing all her tail feathers.

 

As an architect, I was determined to build a real coop. I delved into chickens' habits, researched ways to design a space that would ensure their happiness, and drew inspiration from well-designed chicken coops. The design of the new chicken coop was developed with numerous elements in mind, and I completed construction with my uncle's help. My mother named the young hen who survived three harsh attacks and was about to start a new life in the new coop, Miracle(Ki Jeok). The new miraculous space for Miracle was finally complete. She looked so happy as she moved into her new home. I felt both sorrow for being unable to protect her from the attacks and satisfaction at creating a worry-free coop. My mother bought five chicks to fill the new space, creating a new family for Miracle and naming each one.

 

Through designing and building the coop, I reassessed my human-centered perception that architecture is solely for the living and habitation of people. I realized that, in architecture, fundamental opportunity and genuine intent matter more than professional knowledge and technique. More than two millennia ago, Roman architect Vitruvius wrote in The Ten Books on Architecture that the three elements of good architecture were stability, utility, and beauty, and this has remained influential to this day. However, beyond fulfilling these principles, my experience designing and building the coop reaffirmed for me that architecture can create new values and help search for meanings in life.

 

This experience with the hens was a powerful reminder of the importance of gratitude. In our busy lives, we often overlook the miracles of our ordinary days, the health and safety we enjoy. This little journey with the hens reinforced the need to be always grateful for these blessings. It's a simple truth that gratitude attracts miracles, and this lesson resonates deeply with me.

 

Location: Yangju, South Korea

Year: 2023

Type: non-human housing

Area: 7.68㎡

Structure: light wood frame

Material: wood, galvanized corrugated sheets, metal pipe, brick, concrete masonry units (Drawing-Graphite on Korean paper, digital print overlay, 24x18 in.)