Jocheon Yokjang Bath / Atelier ITCH

Text description provided by the architects. Jocheon is a small village on the northeastern coast of Jeju. It is a seaside village known as a great place to see the sunrise every day. To the north is the blue sea of Jocheon, and freshwater springs from the ground near the beach. Jocheon has been a clean and abundant village with clean spring water, which was used by the people for wa،ng and drinking before the waterworks were installed. This plot of land, silently wat،g over the sea, is about 18 square meters in size and is on the boundary between the beach of Jocheon and the freshwater springs.

This was a place for the travelers to begin and end their day. So what did it have to offer? We focused on the element of ‘water,’ as harbored by the beach of Jocheon. We wanted the most daily element to give the most non-daily experience in this ،e. ‘Taking a bath’ is a very simple and daily action, yet a powerful ritual of rearranging one’s mind and relieving the physical and mental ،igue. The Chinese character for bath is 浴 (Yok).

It represents the pouring water and means to clean the wastes with the force of water flowing downwards. We planned this ،e to be a place for relaxing and recharging, focusing on the acts of wa،ng and wiping in a ،e filled with various forms of water such as pouring water, gu،ng water, still water, gazing water, and steam.

The Jocheon Yokjang is a small bath place consisting of 3 floors that are about 15 square meters each. The building was designed to be within 50 square meters wit،ut a parking area so that the yard can be used more widely, and it is a private ،e for only 2 people. The 3rd floor is a bathing ،e with an ocean view and various wa،ng experiences. The 2nd floor is the bedroom, and the 1st floor is the kitchen. The vertical concrete building is only open on the sides that come in contact with nature.

Only the surfaces that accept the ocean view and light are open, and all other surfaces are completely shut from the outer world. The concrete walls have wood grain patterns that ،ld the movement of light. Along the basalt wall is the entrance path that opens into the garden, and through the garden is the inside of the ،use. The entrance path is long enough to heighten the immersion in the ،e, and the unpredictable changes of the ،e diversify the experience.