UI | ACC

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ASIAN CULTURE CENTRE | KOREA

Culture is total mode of living, playing, eating, etc. It does not have clear definition but has very broad use in all fields. As such a manner the site has various urban interfaces around its fabric. In terms of urban morphology, it has three main axes: Chungjangro as commercial; Geumnamro as Symbolic; Art Street as art/cultural.

In the southern direction, the fabric is more mixed with residential and potentially it will be expected to be regenerated into cultural, commercial area. These various surroundings will have reciprocal communications with New Asian Culture Complex(ACC) with their own interfacing protocol.

In order to incorporate ACC into urban dynamics, our project was driven by the manifesto ‘The more permeable, the more cultural’ by re-defining the term permeability as ‘duration with delays and gatherings’.

Permeability is not flowing without stopping. It is more permeable when urban fabric has pause, stops, delay and gathering. It apparently looks like a contradictory matter to cooperate permeability and gathering together. However, we know it is the very creative paradox to regenerate the site in urban manner. Gwangju is vacant not only because of administrative evacuation but also because of new need of gathering culture. It has already very rich inheritance throughout its historic sincerity.

Permeability gives flexible use of facilities by non-centralised spatial organisation. Our aim is how to differentiate the current condition into various vectors of flow and various modes of gathering within the site and in a large urban scale. It has been rigorously processed to organise territorial structure. To materialise the project towards Permeability City, other matters are interwoven together like Maximising ‘Democracy Square’, Multi-space / Multiple Access, Basement as Another Ground, Threshold-space under Existing Buildings, Low Massing , Sangmugwan, Urban Forest and Indoor/Outdoor Gathering.

Good architecture responds to our lives and matter in diverse directions and differentiates them into various colours, forms and environment where we live. We believe that we will help to regenerate the centre of Gwangju into a new type of cultural city of 21st century.

Status: Competition Entry | Location: Gwangju, South Korea | Year: 2005 | Architect: Matter Organisation | Client: Local Authority | Budget: 30million GBP | Structure Engineer: ARUP | Environment Consultant: Atelier Ten | Use: Cultural and Education | Site area: 118,170 m² | Gross Floor Area: 142,718 m² | Structure: Reinforced Concrete Structure, Steel Frame |