GALLAUS

Integrating the Gallery and Urban Dwelling
In renovating an existing apartment in Seoul, AnLstudio explored the interaction between the atelier and the dwelling space for a traditional Korean painter. The client, who is both a painter and a collector, had sought out a space in which she could not only invite her guests to show her paintings, but also live comfortably in the environment that houses her tools and work. Hence the main goal of the project was to merge life with art, as well as the public with the private.
The new design scheme aimed to incorporate the functions of an art gallery/atelier and those of an apartment. The proportions of the existing apartment space had presented some practical difficulties: in contrast with the typical LDK-type apartments usually found in Korea, which integrate the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen, the client's apartment had a C-shape wall in the center which separated the kitchen and the living room. The client complained of the resulting separation of her life patterns in the two areas of the apartment.

Linkage by Linear and Diagonal Lighting Fixtures
Instead of seeing this wall as an obstacle and destroying it altogether, the AnLstudio used it as a gallery wall while incorporating the use of geometrical lighting structures throughout the ceiling to suggest a linkage between the living room and kitchen. These fixtures were installed to provide the displayed elements with three different lighting sources—direct, indirect, and spot.
The gallery wall is visible from several key locations of the apartment: the entrance, the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room, while the lighting structures offer a "flow" through the entire space and create a hybrid of the exhibition and living areas with a visual continuity.