Seoul, Korea
Swiss-based architectural practice Herzog & de Meuron has won the competition for the creation of a building that will contain all the archives of three major cultural institutions of Korea, the Seoul Museum of Art, the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, and the Seoul Museum of History.
“Beyond its role as a storage facility, it aspires to be a dynamic civic space for Seoul residents and global visitors,” states Herzog & de Meuron.
“Characterised by a pyramidal glass structure atop mineral blocks and surrounded by a carefully delineated garden, the building becomes a prominent landmark visible from Seocho Road, capturing the attention of passersby.”
The structure will be located next to Seoripul Park and the Seoripul Performance Art Center and its form will be a glass-encased pyramid shape that will rise on four blocks and will be surrounded by vegetation, under the traditional principles of the Korean garden.
Seoripul Open Art Storage will not be only a repository for cultural and historical artifacts; it will also welcome visitors with an area for exhibitions, an auditorium, a library, a restaurant, and a café.
The excavations carried out will make it possible to reuse the gneiss rock for the construction of the stepped blocks that will serve as the base.
The glass envelope of the storage volume is segmented on top, with a section for offices a public café, and preservation workshops crowning the complex.
The collections will be placed on different levels (2–5) and organized not by museum but by materials, and thus by the climate conditions they require.
Within the archives block, four climatized zones are stacked, perforated by a cone-shaped void that facilitates visual connections between levels.
This glazed cone is equipped with display cabinets for the stored items. Hence, through visual connections, visitors will have a peep into a program that normally, in conventional archive buildings, stays out of sight.
The objective of the project is to achieve carbon neutrality through meticulous evaluation of emissions.
This requires reducing the use of concrete and prioritizing products containing a high percentage of recycled material, besides incorporating photovoltaic panels, a system for harnessing rainwater, and a geothermal heat pump.
The construction of the 619 Seoripul Open Art Storage will begin in 2025 and it is scheduled to reach completion in 2028.
Project: 619 Seoripul Open Art Storage
Architects: Herzog & de Meuron
Lead Architects: Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
Partner in Charge: Santiago Espitia Berndt
Design Team: Enrique Peláez, Thorben Bazlen, Jackie Bae, Benedict Choquard, João Conceição, Sukjoo HongInmo Kang, Jeremy Kim, Liane Yue Liang, Jan Macbean, Chris Noh, Aida RamirezMarrujo, and André Vergueiro
Renderings: Courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron
