Agricultural Resources Management Institute in Gyeongsangbuk
Architects
Sol89. María González and Juanjo López de la Cruz + Jongjin Lee
Collaborators
Cristóbal Galocha and Jaime Fernández, architects
Client
Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Office
The proposal for the new Agricultural Resources Management Institute (ARMI) emerges from the concept of an enclosure, as an ancestral architectural resource that enabled the domination of a landscape portion for agricultural cultivation. From the Korean tradition’s “Agricultural Temples” to the Spanish “Haciendas” or the Italian “il Cortile,” the need for protection and demarcation of a territory portion implied the definition of a space that is open yet shielded by the buildings dedicated to agricultural production, forming a landscape unit within a larger rural landscape.
From the concept of an enclosure, the new ARMI is organized around two large courtyards: the reception courtyard, dedicated to activities on a human scale (offices, auditorium, housing, and common leisure and rest areas), and the work courtyard, where agricultural research processes with rice and seeds take place. Their position, linked by the diagonal common to both courtyards, ensures fluidity between them while allowing precise measurement of their relationship. This way, conflicts between the circulation of people and machinery are avoided, as well as any lack of privacy for the residences, adopting once again a solution linked to agricultural tradition where diagonal transits guarantee autonomy and the progressive discovery of the courtyards.
