Thursday, September 30, 2010

Urban Hive

The Urban Hive building was designed by In-Cheurl Kim and completed in 2009. It is located in Gangnam, one of Seoul's ritziest neighborhoods. This building is unique in that its structure is entirely on the exterior of the building. The concrete honeycomb skin actually contains all of the structure leaving the interior of the building free of columns and frames. We met the architect during our visit to the building and he explained that the this concrete skin was not just about rethinking the building's structure but also a way to make the building a recognizable landmark in Seoul, especially since it is located catty-corner to Mario Botta's Kyobo Tower (a building that he does not like). The circular pattern also serves as a way for the building's users to have framed views of the city.






Good reflections





The architect's son named this building -
he saw a model of it and thought it looked like a bee hive.


Entrance


Looking out of the entrance


We got here really early to go to the Take Urban Cafe


While the interior was awesome, we missed "Smile Time" and couldn't get the famous breakfast


We ended up enjoying our coffee on the outdoor patio (it was such a beautiful day!)


Later in the afternoon there were way more people


Brendi and Elisam


View from the 16th floor








Office interior


The architect










Amazing view of Seoul


Roof garden (with Kyobo Tower designed by Mario Botta in the back)






Kyobo Tower (which the architect of Urban Hive thinks is ugly)





Nice shadows





Don't lean too far out Uks!


Apartments, apartments, apartments (or Apatu)





Really cool bathroom on the roof


Panoramic of the city


Other cool buildings in the area




Kyobo Tower designed by Mario Botta

No comments:

Post a Comment