Seoul National University Museum
Seoul, South Korea
The design for the Seoul National University Museum is driven by the relationship of the campus to the community and serve as a link between them. This linkage is the defining operation behind the project’s morphology. The operation is a slice through the maximum building envelope and establishes a pedestrian connection between the community and the campus.
The hovering mass generated by this slice is modulated by the circulation path and site topography. This mass is a cantilevered structural steel shell bearing on a concrete core.
Circulation through the building is a continuation of the defining slice, internally the path bifurcate and spirals inward. As one enters the building the circulation affords connections to the different programs.
The educational spaces, the lecture hall and auditorium, benefit from the slope formed by the slice, and internally accommodate ramped seating.
The library inhabits the center and structural core of the building. Peripheral and central circulation paths create two spiraling loops, which allow program contiguity in the building. The exhibition space, located at the top, is designed for expansion by allowing its invasion of the educational spaces. This invasion and resultant multi use of the educational spaces for exhibition purposes are articulated by a ramped circulation path and in materiality.
The monolithic volume is strategically punctuated towards specific site views, consequently exposing moments of its structural framework.
The building is further defined by a selection of finishes and materials, which articulate its compositional elements and functional requirements.
Concept Diagram
Program
Section
Entrance Level Plan
Lecture Level Plan
Exhibition Level Plan
Total area: 4,478 square meters
Completed:2005Photographed by Chuck Choi
Client: Seoul National University Museum
Architects: OMA/Rem Koolhaas
Partner-in-charge: Rem Koolhaas
Associate-in-charge: Kunle Adeyemi
Concept: Roberto Otero, Shiro Ogata, George Bucher
Local Architect: Samoo Architects & Engineers
Structural Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners
Landscape Consultants: Inside-Outside, Petra Blaisse