Seoul, Republic of Korea

Janus by Hyunjoonyoo Architects for Munhakdongne Publishing Group is a cafe and bookstore based on a complex architectural concept based on different views and perspectives.

Janus has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The concept of its architecture began with the question “How does the building look if there is a building that is seen differently by the people who walk to the building from the other side of the same street?”

The site is surrounding buildings close to the road based on a two-lane road.

Unlike Gangnam, Gangbuk’s road system has a mesh system rather than a straight road.

On this road, the next block or the block after the block was not seen while they move and slowly appear and disappear.

In the narrow road, surrounding buildings are attached to the road, and a mesh road system.

The architecture while walking from Hapjeong Station is reminiscent of a book in the city, and as you walk while looking at the book, you can see the blue elevation and walk through the front, greeted by the window. 

Like Janus, with a different face, hence giving the project it name.

Typically, the distinction is made between architecture and adjacent land by low walls, but in this case, the decision was made to add a frame and put the green area on the wall to share the green with the city.

This green wall also helps secure privacy between buildings that interfere with each other on a narrow land. 

To plan the entire building as a book cafe, spaces were divided by planning a bookcase layer and layering a hierarchy of walls, bookcases, and interior spaces on the inner core and windows. 

It was intended to accommodate the surrounding environment, which varies from floor to floor, through the windows of each floor.

Project: Janus
Architects: Hyunjoonyoo Architects
General Contractor: JOYENC
Client: Munhakdongne Publishing Group
Photographers: Kyungsub Shin