Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 178

Mateo desperately needed a new approach.

A great design was important, but the foundation was already there. Athletic Club, his client, had been drawn to his unique architectural sketches from the start.

Even though the client from the Basque region had strong local pride, they didn’t hire him *just* because he was from the Basque Country.

The problem was that Mateo had presented a very unusual design to win over the chairman.

Mateo planned to adjust the design to be more realistic during the detailed planning, but the client insisted on keeping the original, unique beauty.

However, Mateo’s current methods couldn’t perfectly recreate the original design.

The curves had two axes, not just one.

Specifically, the twisted, braided curves couldn’t be shown in a simple, flat drawing.

He had tried many times to explain that stadium designs usually follow standard functions.

But those excuses didn’t work.

“Damn it,” Mateo thought. “It’s not just a simple sculpture, but a huge building like a stadium… There’s no architect in Spain who can create these kinds of curves.”

He had even considered breaking the contract, saying he couldn’t do it, and suggesting they find another architect who could design the curves.

But that thought didn’t last long. Mateo’s pride wouldn’t allow it.

He had faced tougher challenges before and always found a way to succeed.

“Even if I regret it later, I have to try everything I can first,” he told himself.

Then, Woo-jin offered Mateo a glimmer of hope.

The pavilion designed by the young architect used three-dimensional curves everywhere.

Plus, it had a special pattern that changed based on certain rules.

This innovative design could not only solve Mateo’s problem but also take his design to the next level.

Woo-jin pointed to the screen, his finger tracing lines of code. “See these three numbers here?” he asked Mateo. “They’re like the key instructions. They tell the computer exactly where each corner of these panels should be.”

Every word Woo-jin spoke felt like a drop of water in a desert to Mateo. Hope, a feeling he thought he’d lost, began to flicker in his chest.

“And this next line,” Woo-jin continued, pointing to another part of the code, “this is how we make the curves. It’s like drawing a line between those corners, but instead of straight lines, we make them bend and twist.”

Mateo shifted in his seat, a tiny wiggle of excitement. He was starting to see it – a path, maybe, out of the darkness.

“The main idea behind my pavilion,” Woo-jin explained, “is that all the curves are controlled by a single set of numbers. These numbers change depending on how Bruno’s light design flows through the structure.”

When Woo-jin finished explaining, Mateo was silent.

He understood the general idea, but his head was spinning with details.

While Mateo was thinking, Bruno spoke up. “So, Woo-jin, are you saying that the diamond patterns and curves twist more in areas closer to the light design I created?”

Woo-jin nodded. “Yes, Bruno.”

“How is that even possible?” Bruno asked.

“I created the light flow as a virtual curve in the computer,” Woo-jin explained. “Then, I calculated the distance from the center of each panel to that curve.”

“And then?” Bruno asked.

“I used the closest and farthest distances to control how much each panel twists. The panels farthest from the light curve twist the least, and the panels closest to the light curve twist the most.”

“I can’t believe that’s possible… That’s amazing, Woo-jin!” Bruno exclaimed.

“Haha, it’s not just me, Bruno,” Woo-jin said modestly. “I also admire the person who created the computer program I used. This design wouldn’t have been possible without it.”

Bruno shook his head. “A tool is just a tool,” he said.

“It’s the designer who uses it that matters.”

“That’s not true, Woo-jin,” Bruno insisted. “Tools can inspire new ideas, but people create the real breakthroughs.”

“Haha, is that so?” Woo-jin replied.

Because everyone loved Woo-jin’s design, they quickly agreed on how to move forward.

Of course, they would need to make some practical changes to the existing design to incorporate Woo-jin’s pavilion.

However, since Bruno wanted to keep as much of Woo-jin’s original design as possible, it was easy for Woo-jin to discuss the changes.

By the end of the meeting, the atmosphere in the conference room was very friendly.

“Thanks to Woo-jin, I’ve learned about a whole new area today. Thank you so much,” Mateo said.

“You’re welcome,” Woo-jin replied.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to understand everything I learned today… But I’d love to try this kind of design someday,” Mateo admitted.

Woo-jin smiled. “If you need my help, just let me know.”

“Hehe, really?” Mateo asked.

“Of course,” Woo-jin confirmed.

Bruno glanced at Mateo. Mateo needed Woo-jin’s help even more than he did.

“Would it be okay if the person who needs your help is Mateo instead of me?” Bruno asked.

Woo-jin, who knew the whole story of Mateo’s visit to Korea, understood immediately. He nodded happily.

Woo-jin might have brought up the offer knowing that the conversation would lead to this.

“Since it’s getting late, how about we talk about it over dinner?” Woo-jin suggested.

“About the San Mames Stadium,” Woo-jin clarified.

“I was curious about it earlier, but I didn’t want to ask too many questions,” Woo-jin added.

“Ooh.”

“I’d like to hear more specific details.”

As Woo-jin finished speaking, Mateo, who was very happy, jumped up from his seat.

Then, with a very excited look on his face, he said in a slightly rough voice, “I’ll treat you to dinner tonight. Let’s go to the best restaurant around here.”

Bruno chuckled at how excited Mateo sounded, and so they all ended up having dinner in Seongsu-dong, a lively area in Seoul.

They went to what Woo-jin knew was the most expensive restaurant, just like Mateo had said.

Juan Pablo was the president of Athletic Club. He had been feeling uneasy recently.

He was planning to build a new stadium, something he had wanted for a long time. The time to start was coming soon, but he still didn’t like any of the designs.

He hadn’t expected this problem when he hired Mateo Villa, an architect from Bilbao, a city in northern Spain known for its modern architecture. Mateo was famous all over the world.

The first design sketch Mateo showed him amazed Pablo right away.

If the stadium was built like that, Athletic Club would have the most magnificent stadium in Spain. It would be a building that people would travel from all over to see, a true landmark.

However, the architect he trusted slowly changed the design, saying that the drawing he had shown was impossible to build.

Pablo thought the design had become boring and plain, missing the exciting parts he loved.

The parts that he liked most in Mateo’s design, the points that had to be removed during the detailed design process, were exactly those points.

Pablo’s face turned red. He slammed his hand on the table. “Mateo! Stadiums like this are everywhere!” he said. Pablo was known for his fiery temper, and he had no choice but to lash out at Mateo.

“……”

“The special design I wanted is definitely not this.”

“Hoo. I understand, Pablo,” Mateo said.

“I hope you can somehow come up with a design based on what you showed me before.”

Mateo said he would find the answer again, but Pablo no longer trusted him.

He even started to doubt Mateo’s reputation as a world-renowned architect.

‘If we were going to build a new stadium with such a boring design, we might as well have hired someone local,’ he thought.

So, today, after the date he had given Mateo had passed, Mateo’s design arrived by email. Pablo didn’t expect much.

That is, until the design file was about to appear on the screen in the club’s conference room.

‘If this one doesn’t satisfy me either, I’ll just have to end the contract with him. I can’t compromise on a project that costs so much money,’ he thought.

He thought that Mateo hadn’t even shown up at the design presentation because he wasn’t confident and had run away.

He expected that Mateo would bring a boring, plain design.

“Mr. President, I’ll upload the perspective view first.”

“Keep it short and simple,” Pablo replied.

But the next moment, when an employee from Mateo’s company opened the perspective view showing the stadium’s front design…

“……?!”

Pablo had been leaning back in his chair, looking bored. Now, he quickly sat up straight and pushed up his glasses, which were slipping down his nose.

“No, what is this……?”

The design in the perspective view wasn’t just a copy of the first design Mateo had shown. The new design had the same feeling as before, but it was a stadium with a completely different structure and shape.

But even so, Pablo couldn’t even imagine ending the contract with Mateo.

“Is this… the new stadium designed by Mateo?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. President. He is truly sorry he couldn’t be there to present in person. He wishes he could see your reaction himself,” the employee read from Mateo’s message.

Even if this wasn’t the design that had first amazed Pablo, it was even more beautiful and special.

“Wh, where is Mateo now?”

“He is in Korea. He sent the design from there the day before yesterday.”

“Yes……? Why there……?”

“I understand that he went there to find the answer to the 3D design. Mateo believed that seeing modern Korean architecture would inspire him with new ideas for the stadium’s 3D design.”

The twisted three-dimensional curves of the wall around the stadium were gone, but instead, the huge ceiling covering the stadium curved and flowed like a giant wave frozen in time. It started high in the center, like a wave cresting, and then gently rolled down towards the edges.

Eventually, it became a simple stream of water, flowing down the wall.

What Pablo saw was art itself, in the truest sense of the word.

‘Beautiful,’ he thought.

Pablo admired the stadium, his breath catching in his throat. The employee of the office, who had been watching him, carefully spoke again.

“Mr. President, the representative said……”

Pablo, still staring at the screen, just nodded, “Yes? What else?” his voice almost a whisper.

The man continued, “He said that showing you this perspective view today would be enough.”

“Haha.”

The man’s words continued as Pablo laughed happily. “He said he would like to tell you more about the design himself. He asked if you could give him about a week more……”

Before the employee could finish, Pablo answered, “Of course. Tell him, if he can build a stadium like this, I can wait not just a week, but even a month longer.”

Even as he spoke, Pablo’s eyes did not leave the screen for a single moment.

Golden Print