Seungho Park + Jaewoo Chon (United States)
CULTURE TERMINAL
Suncheon's formation of a cultural platform through the combination of two programs: a contemporary art gallery and a visitor's center bring new architectural and urban opportunities in challenging the nature of civic space today. Art and local information are now easily accessed today through the internet without physical presence. It has become unnecessary for tourists to visit info booths, rendering the traditional visitor center obsolete. Likewise, cultural venues today are no longer concentrated around art galleries and other large institutions, but have decentralized into personalized experiences and hidden discoveries, made evident by the so-called "matjib"(맛집) trend.
In lieu of such shift in the nature of civic space, we propose to conceive the building in radical modesty: art & visitor hub acting as a terminal, whereby the organization of the building encourages interaction between locales and visitors through the simple act of sharing infrastructure - plumbing, leisure, transportation, etc.
Culture terminal thus proposes an alternative to today's identity-driven architecture, where reckless attempts are made to conjure up the so called, "sense of place". Instead of seeking self-attention, it embraces the fundamental role of the visitor center - the intermediary between the tourist and the city.
And maybe some art along the way.
TEMPORAL HIERARCHY
The various functions of the buildings are conceived through its temporal hierarchy, where functions that tend to be passerby and ephemeral are placed at the perimeter. More "commitment requiring" functions like education and auditoriums are placed in its inner santum
FIELD OF CORRIDORS
Instead of a clearly demarcated programmatic subdivisions, the building is organized in a field of corridors varying in different dimensions. Corridors make possible the partial traversal of the building without completely entering into the mains space of the building, encouraging the use of the center as an intermediate passage between journeys
FLEXIBILITY
Within the field of corridors, spaces can be isolated, while also being expanded to various sections of the building. This allows for both isolated spaces for offices, ticketed zones and maintenance, but also opening up the building for larger exhibitions than those mentioned in the brief.
“INFRA-WALL”
Outermost corridor of the building is extended out to create north and south wings that produce a barbican in the north and the New Yeonja-ru. The former Suncheon Wall is re-interpreted as a perimeter condition equipped with various facilities, stimulating the visitors their "first contact" with the locales.
eSou architects (South Korea)
- Hyunsu Kim
- Kang Sangchul_eSou architects
- An Youngju_eSou architects
- Peter Winston Ferretto_PWFERRETTO
- Choi Sungyeol_PWFERRETTO
URBAN THRESHOLD
Urban Strategy
The relationship between site and the surrounding context is the key component to the project’s urban response. Situated within two hills, the site is characterized by its historical North/South axis, which today has become a main urban artery. Rather than break this continuity, with the introduction of a park that acts as a “gap” within the existing urban fabric, our scheme consolidates the axis transforming the perimeter of the site into a porous wall - a filter to the city. The resulting protected public enclosure, relates importantly to the traditional Korean conception of in-between space, where perimeter walls around houses create interstitial spaces that paradoxically are both public and private at the same time.
Concept
The concept of the scheme has been developed in section, with the series of strategic levels differences establishing a new elevated public datum. The new artificial platform becomes a generated landscape, elevated 3.5m from ground level, where visitors can embark into a unique cultural trail.
First the perimeter of the site is extruded to create a platform. A civic plaza is then subtracted, generating a hovering deck. At either side, west a landscape forest and the east a cultural building is added to form an enclosure. A mediating landscape connect the new datum creating a byproduct amphitheater.
Architectural Strategy
The scheme relies on a clear architectural diagram, differentiating between an explicit cultural venue and implicit cultural destination. Architecture and landscape to this effect are inextricably linked, one generates the other. The cultural “bar” building, a 100m long cultural urban corridor is simultaneously a museum space for culture as well as a dynamic urban screen onto which images can be applied to, effectively an extra “outdoor” museum wall.
The topography of the new landscape creates a natural outdoor amphitheater at the back of the plaza, an inclined public living room allowing citizens to observe external performance events. Contemporary public squares seem jammed with multiple ingredients: trees, urban furniture, soft landscaping, etc… however this scheme wishes to design a plaza with maximum flexibility, an open and multi-programmable urban space with a strong definition.
Project
By creating an artificial landscape the presence of the car-park is hidden from the plaza. The artificial topography in turn becomes a public theatre, where the notion of the perimeter edge transforms into a raised world linking city and culture, culminating in a new cultural forum. This building is elevated on a platform, surrounded by a publically accessible apron – a balcony to the stage.
The mass of the building is defined by a strong tectonic of floating steel columns, emphasizing the cut of the building from the platform, becoming the natural access to the forum. The ground plan of the forum, is conceived as a form of “filter”, allowing porous direct access to the protected plaza.
The linear plan of the cultural forum, has been designed as a singular rectangular entity pierced by a series of “anchor” programmes, each house main cultural activities such as galleries and auditoria. Within the same structural shell we have also integrated the additional pavilion, so as not to have a separate appendix to the box. The circulation is strategically located on the west and east main facades, articulating the envelope with visitor movement.
The materiality of the scheme aims to establish a calm and reserved atmosphere within a hectic historical urban quarter, this is not the site for bombastic eye catching architectural statements. The physicality of both the building and landscape work in tandem with proportions and rhythms generated by the structure and volume, where clarity of form and vision are paramount. How the building touches the ground, of in some cases the platform, together with the shear length of the cultural forum (100m) generates the necessary aura and tension required to inspire wonder and civic pride.
ZZZ... (Uruguay)
- Gabriel Etchepare
- Gabriela Torres
- María Lucía Bologna
Suncheon Art Platform + New Yeonja Ru
As a starting point we think of the vacuum as a counterpart to the morphological characteristics of the immediate environment.In addition to the Art Center itself, the idea was to offer the city and its inhabitants a large green lung where they can develop multiple activities both from the standpoint of recreation and contemplation. This large park has the characteristic of diversity within the unity of the park itself. A grid is proposed as a basis for the differential treatment of pavement, vegetation and the diverse activities offered there, ranging from playgrounds for children, sport equipment areas, ponds, different trees, plants and flowers, and areas with benches, while respecting the proposed grid, thus generating a wide variety of activities and landscapes that make the enjoyment of travel and constant discovery.
Another important element in the proposal is the dry square adjacent to the main building. This platform has the virtue of not only directing visitors to the Art Center but also serves as a space that leads to outdoor exhibitions, concerts, or just fosters contemplation of what happens around the building.
The Yeonga Ru memorial, as a contemplation / meditation platform, offers visitors the experience of a total connection with all the surroundings, square, park, city, mountains, sky.
Commitment to sustainability
The project itself has been designed taking sustainability into account:
-Use of renewable energy through photovoltaic cells located on the rooftop of the building in order to enhance the lighting of the entire project.
-Collection of rainfall stored in an underground aquifer and reused for park irrigation, taking advantage of the city’s annual average rainfall.
-Use of energy-saving equipment for thermal conditioning through heat recovery from ventilated air.
-Ventilated facade. Double skin protection made up by an aluminium drilled sheet on the external face and a hermetic double glazed envelopement on the internal face, achieving high levels of insulation and reflection.
