Seoul photographic museum

Seoul, Korea

2019

Competition Entry

As a critical part of the revitalization plan, the siting of the building allows for a generous setback, creating a public park that may be programmed for a variety of activities. The public space can function on multiple levels, giving the museum an opportunity to not only program its own activities and have an extended public lobby but also to engage with other cultural institutions and therby becoming an anchor in the district. The aim is to organically draw people in through its porosity, and welcome people to explore the museum as a public space. It is an in between building that respects the urban in condition but opens up through its uid and soft 'drape' that gently envelopes the core of the exhibit space. Like a photographers backdrop, the drape has no defined edges, but instead is a surface for the interplay of light, projection and life.

The conceptual approach for the Seoul Photographic Art Museum is to create an ephemeral experience for all its visitors and occupants, characterized by varying degrees of transparency, translucency, and reectivity. The underlying orthogonal form is inspired by the simplicity of a picture frame, while the ambiguity of the exterior surface is inspired by the subtle and momentary nature of photography and videography. The building transforms from day to night; by day functioning like a backdrop for the city but by night becoming a light box or lantern. The monolithic appearance during the day brings the focus to the street activities while at night the inner details are revealed, breaking the building down to its various components and animating the city from within.

What should a public place for showing, exploring and exchanging ideas about the past, present and future of photography and related arts be ? And how does a place establish cultural relevance, becoming a generator for a district under revitalization?.

“what makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time”

- John Berger

The design is conceived as a series of spaces captured by a drape, a surface that becomes a communicator, a backdrop, a protective sheath, through the subtle transformative power of light.