SPACE︎︎︎
OBJECT︎︎︎
BODY︎︎︎
Junha is currently thinking about a form of architecture that challenges assumptions about use and appropriateness...
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Seasonal Home
2025
SPRING 2025 / MIT Option III
[What Would Wood? A Worker’s Cooperative made from underutilized wild lumber from forests in the Tahoe region]
This seasonal home begins with the tree - and becomes one. It gathers heat at its core and reaches for the sun through a tall solar chimney, following the sun's path. Solid and dense at its base, it grows lighter as it rises, mirroring the forest’s vertical gradient. It too has seasons: different inhabitants come and go. Branching out to catch light and views, the home remains centered around a shared hearth—distributing heat and resources from within.
Located on Pomo Street, at the edge of South Lake Tahoe’s tourist corridor and near civic buildings, the project directly responds to the region’s persistent housing shortage for seasonal workers. Designed for two rotating communities - aquatic species inspection teams in summer and ski and casino workers in winter - the home functions as a passive ecosystem, sustaining itself through the quieter shoulder months.
Constructed from small and medium-diameter trees harvested through local forest-thinning efforts, the design embraces a low-impact approach. With minimally processed timber - split into halves and quarters - and layered composite systems that cradle insulation and thermal mass, the home becomes both habitat and statement: a shelter grown from the forest’s excess, offering a model of material responsibility and seasonal living.
Relevant Project:
Harnessed Section
(Experimental tectonic models & A full-scale wall assembly mockup of logs, rope, and layered insulation)
