КВАНГО ЛИ

EPS grotto

source: buro247

Корейский дизайнер и художник Кванго Ли и сеульская студия Nameless Architecture создали архитектурное пространство из пенных блоков. Конструкция выглядит как небольшой грот со стенами с неровной поверхностью, которая создается обычно природными материалами. Сама постройка не монолитная и состоит из сотен прямоугольных плит, а волнистой поверхности архитекторы добились ручной резьбой с помощью проволоки. EPS grotto находится в самом центре корейской столицы, у входа в Seoul Plaza.
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source: designboom

evocative of the rough and uneven natural surface of an eroded rock formation, ‘EPS grotto’ by korean designer and artist kwangho lee transforms the foam medium into an immersive, architectural space. together in collaboration with seoul-based studio nameless architecture, the public pavilion takes shape, using foam blocks frequently used civil engineering as the structure’s framework. in the initial stages of the design, stacked rectangular slabs have been developed on top of one other, asymmetrically compiled into a walk-in construction. a significant part of the project follows, as hand carving and chiseling with a wire tool creates an undulating surface on the large-scale cubes.
this symbolized human action transforming standardized and artificial materials into the arbitrary. its transformed materiality allows the space to flow naturally within an intended structural frame, allowing visitors to experience and explore a small grotto within the city center’, the nameless team explain. resulting in an exterior skin with a richly-textured, tactile expanse, ‘EPS grotto’ can be sat on, touched, leaned onto and experienced, and lights up seoul plaza at night.
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source: kwangholee

Kwangho Lee was born in 1981 and grew up in the outskirts of Seoul, Korea. He majored in Metal Art & Design at Hongik University, and graduated in February 2007. He currently lives and works in Seoul.

He has always enjoyed making things with his hands, which comes from living with his grandparents in the countryside when he was little. He remembers watching his grandfather making all sorts of tools out of seemingly everyday things found in and around the house and nearby woods. The house was full of his grandfather’s handcrafted inventions, and this became the inspiration for Lee’s future work as an artist and designer. In remembrance of his grandfather (who passed away in 2005), Kwangho Lee began to find, look and approach things in the way his grandfather would have done; giving new meaning and function to everyday objects and materials.

He was nominated for Jury’s Selection -10 Designers at DMY in 2008 and Designer of the future at Design Miami/Basel in 2009. He was also selected as Artist of the year 2011 by the Korean Ministry of Culture. He has shown his work at Commissaires, Johnson Trading Gallery, Victor Hunt, Karena Schuessler, Clear Gallery & Edition, Gallery Seomi; participated in group projects and international exhibitions such as Design Miami/, Design Miami/Basel, and Design Days Dubai.

His work is kept as a permanent collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and his work has been featured in many major design publications worldwide.