The odyssey of space which hides and reveals itself
Architecture that doesn’t “show”. How is it possible? Rem Koolhaas, an avant-garde contemporary architect who has been searching for the answers to this question, claims, “I am interested in how the architecture creates, strengthens, and makes flexible the flow of the event to create transparency.”
You can see the designs of Rem Koolhaas, who considers architecture a flow and a city, in The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art’s master plan and Samsung Child Education & Culture Center.
The architect’s intention and influence are minimized in Rem Koolhaas’s design. When he was commissioned to build Samsung Child Education & Culture Center, he had suggested building a line that would connect each building organically. He says that all he has done is create a natural flow of the surfaces of the glass wall in the parking space and of the Samsung Child Education & Culture Center, along with the borderline of the ground.
However, in that quiet flow, a powerful future space is developing. A gigantic black box, visible through glasses, and a flexible space of 17 meters, which encompasses the black box, is an architectural exploit enabling audiences to experience different spaces, along different time lines, and different paths of action. Rem Koolhaas has actively participated in solving the fundamental problem of embracing and controlling the ground to place Leeum’s Museum 1 and 2 and Samsung Child Education & Culture Center in overall harmony.
Rem Koolhaas intention for a subtle design has upgraded this building complex as an example of harmony and inner circulation within a city.
The Samsung Child Education & Culture Center is one of the plans which best exemplifies Rem Koolhaas’s quotation: “Architecture is a collision between an insight and an environmental reality.”
Architect Tour
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Architecture building
armony created by architects, building owners, and architectural engineers
Looking back on the progress of The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art project, which was launched in 1995, it is obvious that discussions over the improvement of Seoul’s existing conditions were crucial to the overall allocation plan.
Ambitious plans and construction schedules had to be delayed due to the Asian economic crisis in 1997.
A fast-track method that “carries out plans and constructions while creating programs” was taken to minimize the loss of time during the delay before construction resumed in 2002.
This process required the active cooperation of all participants
The Korean architecture group Samwoo architects and engineers cooperated with Rem Koolhaas and the OMA to create a design that meets the need of the owner of the building, maintaining the consistency of the concept as the space usage program evolved.
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Black box
An experience of space that impacts different senses
Rem Koolhaas has conceptualized the Samsung Child Education & Culture Center as one magnificent space which extends from the second floor in the basement to the second floor overground (approximately 17 meters) and encompasses three different levels.
Koolhaas’s plan was to create three spaces, which have three different lightings and characteristics, by using one space.
The center of every exhibition is a “black box” which is conceptually drifting through the space and signifies the possibility of future art. The black boxes divide the whole space into three; exhibition spaces, on the second floor in the basement, whose height is 6.1 meters; the media exhibition space (black box) whose height is 5.1 meters; and the top floor whose height is 3 meters. Two escalators that connect the black boxes and the second floor in the basement are also visual H61. Furthermore, these escalators are objects which intentionally penetrate two characteristically different exhibition spaces. In addition, they break with the typical concept that exhibition spaces should be closed, and offer interesting visual experiences while providing unique moments when you can feel the texture of black concrete.
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Ramp and Pilotis
Traditional pilotis, humane ramps, mutually attracting paths of actions
Rem Koolhaas employed the concept of pilotis (a space made when the whole, or part, of a building is established on top of the posts or the bottom areas of the posts) for his buildings. This concept accounts for the main entrance of the cultural complex and connects three buildings organically.
Koolhaas’s suggestion was to make a ramp directly connected to the lobby in Museum 1 to solve the problem of the main path of audiences.
This approach makes it easy for seniors, the handicapped, and children to access, and reminds us of traditional Korean architecture in which the main entrance appears under the pavilion.
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Deck
From the field of architectural experiments to the space of contemplation
The deck over the parking lot is used as an outdoor sculpture garden.
Rem Koolhaas’s original plan was to create a flat “deck space”, such as a plateau, in front of the two permanent exhibition spaces (Museums 1 and 2).
His architectural experiment was an attempt to express itself by discarding its very existence.
Through numerous compromises, this concept eventually allowed a happy coexistence, which enables maximum use of the ground, securing a wide view of the two museums.
Currently, the deck space over the parking lot next to the Samsung Child Education & Culture Center is The Museum’s inner walking path – a place for meditation.
Audiences will have the advantage of resting, removed from the chaos of the city.