Designed by: @salazarsequeromedina x @fbarkow

Captured by: @___yjc

Conceived as a device to redefine the relationship between citizens, the city and the landscape, The Outdoor Room was designed for the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism in Songhyeon Green Plaza. Its simple square form frames the layered history of a site that reopened to the public after decades of restricted access. Once a wooded area connected to the nearby royal palace, the park later became an enclosed military site before emerging as an open public space surrounded by Seoul’s dense skyline. Within this context, the pavilion creates a constructed void inside a larger urban void.

Built using mostly reclaimed materials, the pavilion continues the Biennale’s commitment to extending the life cycle of temporary architecture. Its timber structure and corrugated steel cladding were salvaged from Faraway, a pavilion of similar dimensions designed by the Seoul-based studio Diagonal Thoughts. Curated by Sara Kim alongside Byoung Soo Cho, the Biennale proposed that the pavilion would be dismantled after the event and reassembled at a new site in southern Korea, allowing its materials and construction to remain in use beyond the exhibition.

Inside, visitors encountered a circular garden planted with native species and a metal chimney that resonates with the wind, a characteristic element of Seoul’s climate. Designed at a domestic scale, the pavilion offers a familiar and approachable space despite the abstract character of its construction and material palette. Positioned at one of the park’s main entrances, its reflective steel exterior establishes it as a visible point of arrival while framing views towards the surrounding mountains and high-rise buildings.

The pavilion remained at Songhyeon Green Plaza for two months before being dismantled in less than a day thanks to its straightforward assembly system. It has since been acquired by a local design company and will be reconstructed at its exhibition space in Incheon, near Seoul. Conceived from the outset as a reusable structure built from found, low-cost materials, the project reflects a growing approach within festivals and biennales to reduce material waste and extend the lifespan of temporary architecture.