Studio LaM

Int’l Competition for Architectural Ideas for Suncheon Art Platform

International design competition, Entry

Location : Suncheon, Korea

Program: Urban Art Gallery and Park

Design Period : May, 2016

Design Team: Kangil Ji, Namjoo Kim, Jinhyun Jun, Minkyung Song, Yongjun Jo, Eujin Julia Kim

Organizer: Suncheon City Government (http://www.siac.kr)
Featured: Archello (http://us.archello.com/en/project/suncheon-art-wall)

 

Narrative

We designed the Suncheon Art Wall as a response to the cultural history of the city, and as a peripheral intervention to create a new boundary condition between city and art museum. The new Art Wall design is not about separating or differentiating, but about connecting and linking edge conditions, experiences, and time periods. The proposed art museum acts as a agency for spatial connection, and an active mediator between different urban spaces. The proposed peripheral intervention is an experiential connection between daily activities and art experiences. Lastly, we consider temporal connections between different time periods of Suncheon’s history. We propose neutral settings that embrace both the historical remains and future changes.

Strategy: Art Wall as a medium for urban revitalization

Historical Typologies: Old Suncheon Wall and New Art Wall

Suncheon’s old city center has historically significant remains including four old gates, a cross road, various plots and block shapes. These urban and architectural remains enable us to investigate and preserve Suncheon’s original typologies. We borrow the typology of village form from the old Suncheon wall, while using a block type that reflects the modern development patterns of the peripheral surroundings.

Present: Current City Context and Art Village

The Art Platform design weaves together the cultural amenities of the East area of central road with the commercial amenities of the West area. The newly blended composition of art and commerce creates an “art village,” not just an “art center.” The form is attuned to the context of the site and the program needs, considering the types of adjacent buildings.

Future: Art/Cultural Corridor Expansion and Walking Route

The proposed Art Platform design is expected to accelerate the old city center revitalization. On the other hand, the art and culture program would expand to the north where the developed urban fabric is similar in composition to the proposed design.

 

Main Ideas

Porous Art Wall

 

Scaled-down buildings and structures are sparsely placed along the site boundary, leaving room for an open plaza in the middle. The porous form enhances physical and visual connectivity between the city and the new plaza, stimulating an interesting mixture of art and daily activity.

Community and Art Program Mix

The art museum programs are blended into community programs from rent studios and education centers. Mixed programs support consistent use of the site. Program characteristics influence both the city streets and the plaza’s landscape design.

Framing Structures and Hybrid Art Scenes

The art platform site becomes a work of art itself. Architecture disappears as art appears. Various frame structures created through rhythmical use of solid and transparent materials and modular windows generate artistic views of the city at different elevations. The scenes and activities in the city streets and plaza are exhibited like hybrid works of art.