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Chae Song-hee and Laurent Pereira
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Korean Chae Song-hee (38) and Belgian Laurent Pereira (36) are at first sight an odd couple. But in architectural design, they work together, sharing a sense of artistic pride and persistence. Their first successful collaboration was a design of the Seoul Performing Arts Center in Nodeul Island, which won the top prize at a 2005 open international competition joined by leading international architects. Their plan for a kind of Sydney Opera House on Nodeul Island was eye-catching.
The couple say they are not obsessed with being ˇ°Korean,ˇ± but their design naturally expressed Korean tradition through color contrasts reminiscent of traditional Korean multi-colored striped jackets or saekdongjeogori.
The two met when they took part in a project by the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, after which Pereira stayed on as a professor in Hanyang University's Department of Architecture. In the spring of 2005, they decided to open a firm together and named it CHAE-PEREIRAarchitects. Their first joint endeavor, the opera house, won them the prize, and their unique designs have since consistently drawn attention, including for the exhibits at the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival, and the renovation of Korean style residences in Samcheongdong and houses in Itaewon.
Graduating from Yonsei University's Housing and Interior Design department, Chae went off to Paris in 1995 and studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure dˇŻArchitecture in Paris La Villette. She then worked for the Christian de Portzamparc Studio and returned to Korea in late 2001. She wanted to become an architect since her fifth year in elementary school. "I happened to come across a book of works by Frank Lloyd Wright at a bookstore and was dazzled. I also wanted to design such cool buildings," she says.
Architecture was also a childhood dream for Pereira from the time he visited Mertola, Portugal, his father's hometown. "It felt completely different from Belgium. The medieval city of white walls and orange roofs glimmering in the strong sunshine struck me as a sort of labyrinth," he says. He graduated from the Institut Supérieur d'Architecture Saint-Luc in Brussels and worked at the Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris for five years. It was when Jean Nouvel was appointed to design the Samsung Museum that his ties with Korea started.
The motto of CHAE-PEREIRAarchitects is to turn living spaces into art. The Samcheongdong renovation holds a special place in their heart. It was a partial renovation, maintaining the basic framework. Through the project, they discovered the modern architectural value of multiple framed traditional Korean windows. Chae was familiar with hanok (Korean style housing), but Pereira was surprised at their potential after close analysis.
"Hanoks are very modern spaces,ˇ± he says. ˇ°I felt strong energy from the roofs and a sense of communication with the outside from the doors and windows. The inner and outer spaces naturally meet inside hanoks." The two young architects vow to continue their experimental vision, following Nietzsche's advice to push beyond the boundaries of knowledge.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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