t.odo
Seoul, Korea
VOID planning
Indoor world abstracts the outdoor environment
The interior architecture of home furnishings stores rarely displays as much character as the home furnishings themselves—except, perhaps, for t.odo, a boutique in Seoul designed by VOID planning. The architect invented a fairy tale to explain the store’s otherwise abstract architectural elements. The story stars a small bear named t.odo who lives in a forest—a nice bit of word play, since the Korean word “todo” translates as “bear living in the forest,” and it’s also pronounced roughly the same way as the name Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S. president who lent his name to the teddy bear.
The architect sought to recreate a forest indoors in an abstract, minimal manner. The shop’s blistered glass windows, for instance, recall clouds—an effect mimicked in the ceiling with illuminated and contoured Extenso panels. On the ground floor, dark brown ottomans represent tree stumps while raised portions of the stone floor resemble puddles. A circular stair ascends to the second floor, surrounded by strips of white and green fabric, which obscure and open views through the space in much the same way as tree branches.
Even without the fairy tale, t.odo’s spatial layout and atmosphere helps transport visitors from the bustling city into an indoor world that explores the meaning of nature. What initially appears abstract gradually becomes a part of a larger story through the active experience and discovery of the space, an urban oasis where fairy tale becomes reality.
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Formal name of project:
t.odo
Location:
Seoul, Korea
Gross square footage:
2,583 sq. ft.
Total project cost:
$260,000
Owner:
Mellow Company
Architect:
VOID planning
Seoul Kangnam-gu
Chungdam-dong 105-5, Korea
82-2-548-4512 tel.
82-2-548-4514 fax
www.voidplanning.co.kr
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