28/03/2025
Rooftop #1 beautiful view on Itaewon south. Flow Itaewon cafe have this amazing view and with the spring coming it’s time to chill all the afternoon on that fantastic rooftop. You have a panoramic view on all the diversity of function, scale, architecture which is the « charme bordélique » of Itaewon district. Hamilton Hotel with the international food street, bars and nightclubs, the Muslim neighborhood with the large monumental mosque at the top of the hill, as well as the unique characteristic of the Muslim district overlapping with the area known for transgender bars. The Flow Café neighborhood is a mix of trendy spots, a market atmosphere with some big-size clothing shops still remain from the time when this neighborhood was home to the American military presence, and residential areas that have remained in their original state. Jinhee the boss and the cook Eric show great hospitality, and the quality of the food is truly appreciated. There is a secret off-menu dish known as the ‘Emmanuel’: a truly comfort food, featuring creamy pasta carbonara elegantly topped with a golden breaded chicken cutlet. This is the first test of a drawing project to witness to the condition of certain neighborhoods made up of small apartment buildings perched on the hills of Seoul. Some of these neighborhoods are currently undergoing urban renewal and are destined to disappear. Observing them from the rooftop of a café or a terrace provides a unique perspective to understand the diversity of forms and materials.
It also reveals how these buildings are integrated into the slopes, adapting to the terrain. From above, the horizontal rooftops of the small buildings draw out the topography — tracing the curves and levels of the landscape. Through this elevated point of view, the drawings aim to capture not only the architectural diversity but also the complex relationship between these constructions and the geography of Seoul’s hills.
Each rooftop terrace and its owner has a story, filled with personal anecdotes. It would be interesting to tell these stories alongside the drawings
