The volcanic landscape of Jeju Island has been translated into porous, pebble-like homes in the Art Villas of Lotte Jeju Resort.
Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, each unit of the resort's block D was envisioned as a miniature version of the island's “oreum,” the zones of volcanic mounts that characterize the landscape of the island.
“What determines the landscape of Jeju is this blackness and porousness. So we sublimated its feel in the scale of a house,” says Kuma, who named the project “Jeju Ball.” “From a distance, the house appears like a single pebble and when you are close, you notice that many parts of the house are of the black stone.”
Inspired by the soft and round touch of the volcanic rubble, the architect naturally turned to it as a building material, scattering them on the villa rooftops to create gently curved mounts. Durable and easily attainable throughout the volcanic island, the rocks were also also chosen for their porousness, which make the roofs highly insulated and water absorbent — well-suited to the island's subtropical climate.
“The volcanic rock was [selected] to create a harmonized roof-scape but more importantly, to control the indoor environment naturally,” explains Satoshi Adachi, the lead architect on the project. The 210- and 245-square-meter houses are endowed with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, as well as wooden ceilings and tiles made from Jeju rock to heighten the connection with the landscape.
To emphasize the connection between the house and its environment, unique roof eave structures have also been designed to subtly let in natural light, Adachi told BLOUIN ARTINFO Korea.
“We challenged this solidity in a different way, introducing ‘lightness’ by assembling the rocks with a translucent, stainless steel mesh. This way, a light pouring of ‘rock eaves’ was achieved to create a relaxing indoor space.”
The Lotte Jeju Resort consists of five blocks in total, each designed by a different architect. Villas by Dominique Perrault, Yi Jongho, Seung H-Sang, and DA Group make up the rest of the development, each designed to make the most of Jeju’s unique natural environment.