Micro Publics: A Second Home for Teens

This project tackles the absence of meaningful public space for teenage girls in Hongje-dong, Seoul, a neighborhood shaped by aging demographics and incremental urban change. While main streets remain active, the dense network of narrow alleys is underused, often perceived as unsafe, and fails to support social life—especially for youth. Teenage girls are effectively excluded from everyday public space, with few places to gather, interact, or express themselves.

The proposal, “Micro Publics: The Second Home for Teens,” repositions these alleys as a latent social infrastructure. Instead of large-scale redevelopment, it applies precise, small-scale interventions that preserve the existing urban fabric while inserting pocket spaces within residual gaps. These interventions include selective demolition, façade adjustments, and spatial openings that improve visibility, safety, and accessibility. The alleys retain their intimate scale but gain new functionality as distributed social nodes.

A key component of the project is its mentoring framework, which connects local teenagers with nearby university students as mentors. These pocket spaces act as informal platforms for guidance, knowledge exchange, and peer support, embedding learning opportunities directly into the urban fabric. By aligning spatial intervention with a clear social structure, the project activates everyday environments as sites of growth and connection.

Ultimately, the project demonstrates how minimal, targeted design moves can transform overlooked urban spaces into meaningful public infrastructure without disrupting existing community patterns.