![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-01-474x474.jpg)
‘Chinese boxes’ is the first built project of ‘thescape’, an architectural design office based in Seoul, South Korea.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-02-474x340.jpg)
It is a very small apartment house, 237.34sqm of gross floor area, with four units and one underground studio.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-03-474x356.jpg)
The site is located in near the Gangnam-Streets, one of the most vibrant areas in Seoul, where land price is extremely high.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-08-474x711.jpg)
And the site is very small. So the overall building silhouette had to be followed from the maximum 3-dimensional buildable area defined by some building regulations.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-04-474x327.jpg)
The architect found the silhouette looks like ‘Chinese boxes’; a simple paper box for take-out food. Moreover, according to the dictionary, ‘Chinese Boxes’ has another meaning; a box in a box.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-06-474x298.jpg)
The description ‘a box in a box’ eventually reveals the unit organization. Each of the units actually has a box (a bathroom) in it.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-05-474x711.jpg)
It was an important design issue, to treat a bathroom not as a two-dimensionally separated room, but as a solid volume occupying the space of the unit. So the name-Chinese boxes-is rationalized.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-07-474x633.jpg)
The composition of the building is very simple. A central staircase ties two units. The building has two floors above ground, so there are four units in the building.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-09-474x256.jpg)
But it is not easy to notice the building formation from the outside, without explanation. The architect wanted to conceal conventional codes of the apartment, such as a balcony, a big window for bedroom, a small window for bathroom, etc.
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-10-474x316.jpg)
As a result, the building appears as one simple piece of sculpture, rather than an ordinary-neighborhood-apartment. Courtesy by KyungHwan Chun
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-11-474x316.jpg)
Location: Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Architects: thescape
Architect In Charge: KyungHwan Chun (jaeminahyo.com)
Collaborators: SeungYoun Cho, JinHo Kim, SeungJun Kim
Structural Engineering: KwangLim Structural Engineering
Mechanical Engineering: HanBaek F&C
Electronic Engineering: ChunIl E&C
Area: 237.0 sqm
Year: 2013
Photographs: SungKyung Choi
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-12-474x527.jpg)
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-13-474x459.jpg)
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-14-474x316.jpg)
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-15-474x373.jpg)
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-16-474x352.jpg)
![Chinese Boxes](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Boxes-by-thescape-17-474x352.jpg)