For the city of Sejong in South Korea a new Center for the Performing Arts is a vital part of the cities emergence and growth as a place of culture and depth.
Asymptote's proposal calls for an architecture rooted in the contemporary urban life of the city an embrace and celebration of contemporary culture as expressed through elegant and sophisticated design principals. The design of this center for performing arts also sets out to capture the spirit and flavors of local architectural traditions.
The elegantly curved roofs of nearby pavilions and temples and the stoic solidity of traditional monumental buildings are transformed in this architecture into a contemporary language, expressing the continuity of culture and Sejong's 21st century cultural aspirations.
The new Sejong Arts Center is designed to seamlessly connect to the city fabric where the two main entrances to the building are placed along an east-west axis that cuts diagonally across the site.
As this axis passes through the building's interior it connects the upper foyer of the Arts Center with the city center to the west and the riverside park and museum district to the east.
The treatment of the main urban façade as a large multi-story glass expanse creates a theatrical display and show window into the world of performance and theater. With its intricate patterns of louvers the façade performs environmentally as well as aesthetically providing a compelling and dramatic backdrop to the exterior public space that it overlooks.
Location: Sejong, South Korea
Architect: Asymptote Architecture
Design Partners: Hani Rashid, Lise Anne Couture
Project Director: John Guida
Project Team: Danny Abalos, Bika Rebek, Du Ho Choi, Hong Min Kim, Matthew Slattery, Valentina Soana, Mu Jung Kang
Local Architect: EGA Seoul
Structural Engineer: Knippers Helbig Stuttgart- New York
Environmental Design: Transsolar Inc. New York
Size: 15,000 sqm
Year: 2013
Client: Multifunctional Administrative City Construction Agency (MACCA)