herzog & de meuron completes 'songeun building,' its first project in korea

ST international and songeun art & cultural foundation unveil the result of a collaboration with herzog & de meuron. the group announces details of its new ST / songeun building which will celebrate its opening on september 30th with inaugural exhibitions, the first curated by the swiss architecture firm. expressed as a minimalistic concrete monolith, the gallery stands as herzog & de meuron’s first realized project in korea and will establish a significant landmark in seoul.

images © jihyun jung

drone footage © kyoung duk joo, JDR studio

herzog & de meuron designs its ST / songeun center to express finely crafted architectural motifs whilst maintaining a harmonious connection to its context. located in the heart of cheongdam dong, the building will be nestled in one of the busiest commercial and luxury fashion epicenters in seoul. the project seeks to become a cultural anchor that will further attract visitors and broaden the exposure around korean artists as well as the international contemporary art scene. the project is designed together with executive architect junglim architecture and is realized in partnership with ST international and songeun art & cultural foundation.

one of the most prominent design features of herzog & de meuron’s ST / songeun building is the concrete surface textured with the formwork of rotated wooden boards. this motif is an celebration of name songeun, which translates as ‘hidden pine tree.’ the patterns and veins of these wooden boards add a tactile quality to the volume. this design element is sharply contrasted, yet seamlessly integrated with the building’s sharp, geometric, minimal, monolithic structure, which is eleven stories high and five floors underground and spans more than 8,000 square meters. the art spaces on the lower floors open out toward the main street through a long window. the upper floors are dedicated office spaces with another long window at the top.

the team at herzog & de meuron comments: ‘our experience designing contemporary art museums has increasingly focused on how we can bring art and people together. how can we make a space that works for the art and the artist, for the collector and the public? many different needs have to be factored in to make a whole that works for everyone. only then can such a place become a new attractor for urban life in a city.’

to celebrate the opening of the new gallery, songeun art and cultural foundation will present a special exhibition planned in collaboration with the swiss architects titled ‘herzog & de meuron. exploring songeun art space’. opening september 30, the inaugural exhibition will take visitors on a journey through the new art space with accompanying works by international artists with whom the architects have had long-standing collaborations, including thomas ruff and rémy zaugg.

herzog & de meuron completes monolithic ST / songeun building, its first project in korea

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