Dong bu
Located in the bustling metropolis of Seoul, Korea, this urban shopping center needed an outward image that would match the energy and vitality of the youth culture taking place inside. Effectively a windowless box, IOTA approached design of the exterior not as a blank canvas, but as a transparent screen or veil that would offer glimpses of the action inside, while doubling as valuable advertising space for merchants. The first scheme takes the universally recognizable image of the SKU bar code, resizing it to the scale of the city. The second scheme uses a system of standardized panels randomly inserted between horizontal floor plates. Both are designed to accommodate regular changes in advertising format and media. This is architecture at the speed of fashion.