Kengo Kuma used locally sourced volcanic rocks for the exterior of his buildings, as a reference to over 300 volcanoes and lava cones, called oreums, that are scattered across the island. Volcanic rubble is scattered across the curved rooftops of these villas by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma on Jeju Island, South Korea
From distance, the house appears like a single pebble and when you are close, you notice that many parts of the house are of the black stone. Light highlights the texture of the stone, and the ambiguous roof edge can connect the roof with the ground. The detail, placing the black stone on a steel mesh, enabled us to realize such vague and subtle edge. What determines the landscape of Jeju is this blackness and porousness. So we sublimated its feel in a scale of a house. Kuma explains: “Our intention was [for] the light to come through the black pebbles. Light highlights the texture of the stone, and the ambiguous roof edge can connect the roof with the ground.”
