ARC MULTIMEDIA THEATER BY ASYMPTOTE

The architecture of the River Culture Pavilion (ARC) is an powerful formal statement that combines nature, technology and space. The bold curved form of the ARC is perched on a peninsula that juts into the river and surrounded by an awe inspiring natural environment.

The building is a strong focal point set against a stunning panoramic landscape. The architecture is comprised of a vessel shaped form that is clad in silver fritted ETFE pillows that through a play of transparency and geometry creates an ephemeral effect.

This atmospheric quality of the building enclosure is heightened by light reflections from shallow pool of water that surrounds the base. While the visible portion of the building sits atop an artificially formed landscape, the exhibition gallery concealed below is the space through which the visitors enter.

While the exterior of the ETFE clad structure captures the quality of the changing light with the open sky and river landscape as backdrop, the darkened and hermetic interior of the main structure houses an immersive multimedia environment illuminated only by projections of the abstracted and re-conceptualized qualities of the surrounding site.

The architecture enables the visitor's experience to be an alternating play between a 'real' experience of the water, sky and landscape that surrounds the building, and a virtual experience as presented through multimedia.

This experience culminates on the roof where a large reflecting pond reflects the sky and an observation terrace enables the visitor to overlook the site and its natural surroundings from yet another perspective.

Location: Daegu, South Korea

Architect: Asymptote Architecture

Design Principlas: Hani Rashid, Lise Anne Couture 

Project Directors: Josh Dannenberg, John Guida 

Project Team: Brian Deluna, Duho Choi, Allison Austin, Rebecca Caillouet, Gabriel Huerta, John Hsu, Susan Kim, Ryan Macyauski, Yun Shi, Penghan Wu, Hong Min Kim

Local Architect: EGA Seoul

Structural Engineer: Knippers Helbrig Stuttgard

Size: 3,200 m2

Year: 2012

Client: Kwater Korea

SEJONG CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS BY ASYMPTOTE ARCHITECTURE

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)