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| ▲ Café Gongbech |
At first glance, this location may not seem like a multipurpose cultural space that accommodates both cafes and art galleries. Following the coastal route in Dongbok-ri, Gujwa-eup in the northeast of Jeju, visitors are greeted with grey, square buildings that seem as though they have been built from raw concrete.
The clear view between the buildings creates the feeling of being directly in touch with the sky and the sea, embodying Jeju’s innate vista. This is “Café Gongbech.”
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| ▲ Café Gongbech |
Completed through a construction process of around three years since 2017, Café Gongbech consists of a remodeled refrigeration unit that had been abandoned for a long time and the addition of new buildings. Enamored by the desolateness of derelict buildings where the two refrigeration units had been left to fall to ruins, CEO Choi of Café Gongbech wanted the café to emotionally resonate with visitors from its spatial characteristics alone.
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| ▲ Café Gongbech |
Meanwhile, CEO Choi Mu-gyu of architectural firm SF LAB, which designed the café, remarked, “We’re emotionally attached to the place since we worked on it for three years,” and added, “In the process of implementing this project, we shared the consensus that we should keep it as empty as possible without completing it in the conventional sense so that it can be filled by Jeju’s natural vista.”
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| ▲ Café Gongbech |
Built with a focus on emptiness, Café Gongbech accentuates the beauty of empty spaces as intended in the design process. Situated on a wide plot of land, the buildings that comprise Café Gongbech minimized interior elements in their design and widened the gaps between them to allow visitors to forget about the rigors of everyday life and enjoy their leisurely time in peace, while mirrors have been installed around the interior for visitors to reflect on themselves and experience the act of finding meaning in themselves against the surrounding backdrop.
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| ▲ Café Gongbech |
Café Gongbech was initially known as the café operated by BTS member Suga’s older brother, rather than its architecture, but its architectural excellence was recognized after it won the New Architectural Firm category at Korean Architecture Awards 2020. Although it was once a holy site of the BTS tour for members of Army, the BTS fan club, it has since undergone a change of ownership.
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| ▲ Café Gongbech |
Today, Café Gongbech is a must-visit destination and a rising hotspot of Jeju tourism.
ㆍLocation: 83, Dongbok-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju-si
ㆍContact: (064) 783-0015
ㆍWebsite: http://www.gongbech.co.kr
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