Suncheon Art Platform: The Hidden Cloister
The Suncheon art platform, built as part of the vision to rejuvenate the old city, strives to restore a sense of harmony and a moment of pause in its dense urban context. It accomplishes this by carving out an open-to-the-sky square that evokes the experience of a psychological 'void' and echoes the courtyard typology of medieval Korean architecture.
The intervention creates a seamless connection between the historic city and the river, making it a public threshold to approach the old city. It also acknowledges the necessity for green spaces in urban contexts by providing space for dense plantations on site, emphasising the importance of fostering natural ecosystems in large metropolitan environments.
The architectural vocabulary and proportioning system of the building are derived from traditional Korean architecture – it employs the conventional measurement 'ka' which equals 3.60 metres. It allows for modest incremental growth with the possibility of adding underground rooms when the need arises.
The heavy granite base and light steel pavilions atop lend a contrasting material experience. The project is composed of such playful contrasts – between the underground cave and the built pavilion, movement and pause, density and void, and gravity and lightness.
The architectural quality is inspired by the surprise and joy of discovering a hidden cloister within an urban forest enroute to the dense fabric of the old city. Overall, the architectural meaning has evolved through a reinterpretation of traditional to contemporary, reinforcing a sense of continuity with the community's memory all along.
