The project began as a reflection on a primitive shelter, and a speculative design challenging the modern idea of “building envelope” as it relates to comfort. The modern building envelope separates “here” from “there” as two thermal conditions, one natural and one artificial. If architecture is mainly the manipulation of climate, then we can say that since modernism, architecture has been squashed to fit into about 30cm of thickness. If we question this notion of “stable” comfort, as an opposition to a natural climate, we can read “in” and “out” as a continuum that allows for nomadic occupation, and even the manipulation of thermal comfort through material properties or cultural aspects like food.
The simplest form of shelter is a topographical condition with a plane overhead to project its inhabitants from the elements. While contemporary homes reflect entirely artificial climatic conditions on the interior produced by machines, the Thermal Topography House creates a topographical interior, where floor elements, like geological conditions, vary in thickness, elevation, and in their ability to reflect, absorb, and emit the sun’s energy.
The project is also rooted in the wide thermal spectrum of experience when dining in South Korea. Certain foods, like Naegmyeon are served cold, sometimes with ice bringing the temperature right down to 0C, while sides dishes are served near room temperature, grilled foods are cooked to an internal temperature of 62 to 68C, and the hottest foods are served boiling, right in front of you. You might in Korea, as we would in the west, eat the hottest, spiciest foods on the coldest day to warm your body. But in Korea you might have the experience of shivering from the AC while eating noodles on ice, and you might have the experience of sweating on a summer day in front of boiling soup.
The dishes also have characteristic serving styles: cold noodles are often served in brass bowls, small side dishes are served cool or room temperature and may be served commonly on plastic for economy, and hot soup is often served in a clay pot. The materials themselves lend to this experience - the conductivity of the brass allows you to sense the temperature as heat moves quickly from your hand into the metal, and the clay pot, for example, is used for its thermal inertia.
The winter garden protruding on the South is a passive solar generator, with a low albedo concrete floor and wall to store energy. The interior topography steps down in this room to receive more sunlight and to help induce convective movement. The adjacent 2nd living spaces has a brighter, high-albedo flooring, that reflects solar energy to stay cooler.
Fabric shades on the roof seasonally control the amount of solar energy that comes into contact with various living spaces, and photo-voltaic roof tiles power water heaters in the north side of the house, and supply additional heat to the bedrooms and living spaces in winter.