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C

Studio stof

BACK TO THE ROOTS TO FIND INNER
PEACE

A mong the traditional houses a decision to replace ceiling with blue sky of

inside the old alley of Jongno-gu
Insa-dong, allowing those who visit Cerule-
in Seoul, a Korean design studio
from the sitting area to the yard.
stof created Cerulean coffee an to see the sky from any part of the cafe,
showroom by reinterpreting the hanok in a The café is mainly divided into two
modern way. zones, which are the newly built zone where
A hanok is a traditional Korean house. baristas make coffee and the traditional
Hanoks were first designed and built in the hanok zone where customers can sit and
14th century during the Joseon Dynasty. drink coffee. There are only coffee scents,
What is important is that Korean architec- conversation sounds and skylight in the new
ture considers the positioning of the house zone. There is even no sound of music. Stof
in relation to its surroundings, with imagined that customers would be able to
thought given to the land and seasons. watch leaves falling in autumn and snow-
Hanok is divided into various forms ac- flakes in winter while waiting for coffee
cording to the architectural style, but it has though the open ceiling of the waiting area
a common aesthetic of emptiness. Through in the new zone.
this aesthetics of emptiness, people can “Basically, I think all spaces are most
pull themselves together, accept nature and beautiful when they are with natural light.
free their minds. As the passage of time and the change of
And now it is more important than ever seasons are reflected in space through light,
to keep this balance between nature, inside we can experience different spaces at each
and outside worlds of a person. South Korea, moment. I try to make the most of the ad-
especially Seoul, is seeing a huge number of vantages of designing in an environment with
new buildings grow every year with its rap- natural light,” shared Park Seongjae, leading
id economic growth. Now in a city filled with architecture of the project. That is why It
a collection of vertical buildings, hanok was intended to keep an eye on the blue sky
serves as a place to rest and breathe freely. by processing the finish in neutral colors: the
The Cerulean coffee shop also took main finishing materials of the Cerulean
advantage of the basic structure of the hanok coffee shop are gray-shade stones, stained
to create a view of the yard. The newly con- wood and black metal. Basically, all of them
structed building near the entrance was are finished materials that make up a hanok,
designed as minimal as possible without so they are not separated from the existing
harming the traditional hanok style. To enjoy buildings and compliments the natural side
the surrounding nature even more stof made of the building.

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