Amorepacific Headquarters | Architecture where white lattices capture time

Despite being a massive box, why does this architecture appear so quiet?

1 | Introduction: A quiet white box appearing in the streets of Seoul

Walking through the streets of Yongsan, Seoul, a massive building wrapped in white lattices suddenly appears.Amorepacific Headquarters.

It is not a building that asserts its existence by making glass shine like a typical skyscraper. On the contrary, it captures light, wears shadows, and stands quietly within the city.

Seen from afar, it looks like a white box.
However, as you approach, its expression changes completely.

Countless vertical louvers lined up.
Glass surfaces recessed deep inside.
A large void opened in the center of the building.
And the light and wind passing through that void.

This architecture is not merely 'large'.
While massive, it appears somehow quiet, light, and breathing.

Why does such a large building not look imposing?
Why does this building, covered in white lattices, change its expression with time?

In this article, using the Amorepacific Headquarters as a subject, I would like to decipher this architecture from the perspectives of the building's overview, design concept, and my own 'Theory of Temporal Architecture'.

2 | Building Overview

Amorepacific Headquarters (AMOREPACIFIC) is the headquarters building of Amorepacific, a leading Korean cosmetics company, located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

It was designed by British architect David Chipperfield. Among contemporary architects, he is known for valuing materials, proportion, light, and tranquility rather than excessive form.

This building is planned not just as a corporate office building, but as a complex headquarters architecture open to the city.
Inside, in addition to office functions, it incorporates a museum, commercial facilities, and cultural spaces, structured as architecture that relates to the city rather than a closed building just for the company.

The most impressive aspect of the exterior is the white vertical louvers that cover the entire building.
Instead of exposing the glass surface directly to the street, it wears an outer skin like a thin membrane in front of it.

Through this white outer skin, the building acquires a soft and quiet expression while maintaining a strong presence.

Also, a large void is provided in the center of the building.
Rather than placing a massive block in the city, parts of the architecture are intentionally removed to create a margin through which light and wind can pass.

This 'white outer skin' and 'large void' make the Amorepacific Headquarters not just a corporate building, but architecture that changes with time within the city.

3 | Architecture like white porcelain

When I look at the Amorepacific Headquarters, I am sometimes reminded of Korean white porcelain.

It has stripped away unnecessary ornamentation; it is quiet, white, yet by no means weak.
The closer you get, the more you can see the subtle shadows and depth on its surface.

In fact, it is said that this architecture is conscious of the aesthetic sense found in Korean white porcelain, particularly the 'Moon Jar' (Dal-hang-ari).

A Moon Jar is neither perfectly symmetrical nor excessively decorative.
However, its slight fluctuations and negative space create a unique sense of tranquility.

The Amorepacific Headquarters is similar in that regard.

From a distance, it looks like a simple white box.
But as you approach, countless vertical louvers create fine shadows, and the building's expression changes with the time of day.

In the morning, it receives light softly,
at noon, it creates deep shadows,
and in the evening, the white skin takes on a slight reddish hue.

In other words, this is not a building that presents a fixed 'finished form.'
It is an architecture that gradually changes its expression depending on the light, the air, and the time.

Here, there is almost none of the intense glass reflection or excessive iconic nature common in modern high-rise buildings.

Rather, this architecture seems to have chosen to embrace the surrounding environment rather than trying to project a strong image of itself.

The white skin is closer to a membrane that receives light than to a wall.

And deep within that membrane, the architecture continues to quietly reflect the passage of time.

4 | The white louvers are a membrane that reflects time

The most impressive feature of this building is undoubtedly the countless white vertical louvers that cover the exterior walls.

In a typical high-rise office, a glass curtain wall is often displayed across the entire surface. This is to reflect the city, mirror the sky, and create a sharp presence.

However, the Amorepacific Headquarters does not push glass to the forefront.

In front of the glass, another layer, like a white membrane, has been placed.

This louver is also an environmental device that controls solar radiation.
It softens strong direct sunlight, reduces the thermal load inside, and diffuses light gently.

However, the interest of this architecture lies in more than just its performance.

What is important is that this outer skin reveals 'time'.

In the morning, when light shines in from the east, thin shadows appear across the entire building.
By midday, the shadows shorten, emphasizing the uniformity of the white outer skin.
And in the evening, deep shadows are born behind the louvers, and the architecture suddenly begins to take on a three-dimensional quality.

In other words, this architecture changes its expression according to the time of day.

If it had been a building made entirely of glass, such delicate changes might not have been born.

The white louver is not merely a design.
It is a device for receiving light, creating shadows, and visualizing the flow of time.

I have long believed that architecture is not just the act of designing 'space,' but also the act of designing 'time'.

How light moves.
How shadows stretch.
At what moment a person feels the architecture is beautiful.

Architecture that can accept such changes in time does not just exist at the moment of completion, but gains depth little by little in daily life.

The white outer skin of the Amorepacific Headquarters looks exactly like a membrane for that purpose.

5 | A large void at the center of the architecture

Another element that characterizes the Amorepacific Headquarters is the void opened widely in the building.

Inside the giant box, there is a gaping void.

Usually, if it were a headquarters building standing in the center of a city, one would want to secure as much floor area as possible. The higher the value of the land, the more efficiency is demanded of the building.

However, this architecture dares to have a large void.

That void is not just a hole for design purposes.
It is a space for bringing in light, letting wind pass through, and allowing lines of sight to pass through.

When you place a giant building in a city, a sense of oppression is inevitably created.
In particular, when a square mass rises as it is, it is felt as a strong wall against the city.

However, the Amorepacific Headquarters invites the sky into the building by removing a part of that mass.

I believe this act of "emptying out" is extremely important.

Architecture is the act of building something, but at the same time, it is the act of deciding what to leave behind and what to leave open.

Building walls.
Stacking floors.
Putting on a roof.

These are, of course, the basics of architecture.

However, creating empty space is just as important.

A place where people stop.
A place where light falls.
A place where the wind passes through.
A place where the gaze can suddenly drift through.

By having such margins, architecture becomes not just a massive object, but an entity that breathes within the city.

The void of the Amorepacific Headquarters is exactly such an empty space.

While inside the building, it also feels like the outside.
While facing the city, it is also slightly protected.
While being a massive corporate headquarters, it also looks somewhat like a place for people to rest.

This ambiguity gives this architecture a unique depth.

And time flows through this empty space as well.

Morning light pours in, the brightness of midday fills it, and in the evening, the shadows deepen.
The angle of the light changes with the seasons, as does the way the wind passes through.

In other words, this void is not just a shape, but a place where time resides.

6 | Architecture that catches time

I have long believed that architecture is not just the act of designing "space," but also the act of designing "time."

What kind of light will shine in?
What kind of wind will pass through?
At what speed will people walk, stop, and look back?

Architecture does not exist only at the moment of its completion.
It changes over time, is remembered by people, and gradually becomes part of the landscape.

When I look at the Amorepacific Headquarters, I feel that strongly.

This architecture is by no means flashy.
Seen from a distance, it even looks like a very simple white box.

However, as you watch it for a long time, its expression begins to change little by little.

Shadows falling on the louvers.
Light pouring into the voids.
Reflections on the glass surfaces.
The soft whiteness on a cloudy day.
The outer skin that appears to sink slightly on a rainy day.

The change is not dramatic.
Yet, it quietly and surely alters the impression of the architecture.

In other words, this is not an architecture that strongly emphasizes 'form,' but rather one that accepts 'change.'

Here, there is not only the beauty of the moment of completion, but also a beauty that is realized through the passage of time.

I feel this overlaps somewhat with the sensibilities of old architecture in Japan and Korea.

Light through shoji screens.
Evening shadows falling on the veranda.
The way wood gradually changes color.
The way the garden sinks into darkness on a rainy day.

East Asian architecture has long had a sense of accepting 'fleeting beauty' rather than 'unchanging beauty.'

Despite being a massive piece of contemporary architecture, the Amorepacific Headquarters retains that sensibility somewhere.

That is why this architecture is a little difficult to convey through completion photos alone.

I feel that only by actually walking through it and seeing the light change over time can one begin to understand the stillness of this building.

7 | Beyond the white grid, there is time

There are many strong buildings in modern cities.

Huge glass.
Conspicuous forms.
Facades that assert their presence to the city.

Of course, those also have meaning as expressions of the era.

However, the Amorepacific Headquarters seems to be facing in a slightly different direction.

Rather than trying to project strength, this architecture is defined by how it receives light, wind, and the changing of time.

The white louvers change their expression with the time of day,
the central void allows the sky and light to flow in,
and the entire building feels as if it is breathing quietly.

It is not a building that only shows its best at the moment of completion.

It is different in the morning and the evening.
It is different on sunny days and rainy days.
It changes little by little with the seasons.

In other words, this architecture may be closer to a "vessel placed within time" than a "completed object."

I have long believed that architecture is a profession that deals with time.

Space is remembered through time.
Impressions change with the light,
sensations change with the wind,
and meanings change through human experience.

The Amorepacific Headquarters was a building that quietly taught me this.

Beyond the white lattice,
not only space, but truly "time" exists.

Looking at this building, I felt once again that architecture cannot be defined solely by the moment it is completed.

Light shifts, shadows deepen, wind passes through, and it remains in people's memories.
I explore such "architecture that changes over time" in another article as well.

▶︎ Theory of Temporal Architecture | Space is remembered within time
From here on, I will interpret architecture from the perspective of "time."

For those reading for the first time,

in this note, I record my thoughts on architecture, living, time, and the residential cultures of Japan and Korea from an architect's perspective.
I have summarized my position and the themes I value in this profile article.
I would be happy if you could read it as well.
▶︎ Recording time and living as an architect | New Profile