The client’s vision was interpreted as a wish to make a school of joy, discovery, safety, and belonging; to make a community, a home where all social and academic skills are learned; to make a place, which would act as a center for surrounding communities. The first step was to look at historical building typologies of Korea; in particular, the sanseong mountain fortresses, the seowon academies, and the hanok traditional courtyard houses. All three combine ideas of the plentitude and flourishing which comes with enclosure and protection while combining a relationship to the outside world. The idea of landscape at the center is the key concept of this school. Nature meanders through the new school, under a series of ‘learning bridges’ uniting the campus with the mountain. The school is organized like a village plan with main and side streets, courtyards, verandas, pathways, and gardens. The ‘living’ homes for the students are positioned in the most easterly section of the site, looking out over the valley. A rhythm of doorways and porches form entrances to hanok-type houses. An inhabited colonnade forms an enclosure and makes a covered public path where the communities can walk in the shade, connect to the city, and enjoy a new civic space...[+]