Suncheon Art Platform
The design proposal is for a series of urban rooms for the City of Suncheon. The landscape is split diagonally across the square; this split becomes the entrance to the arts centre forming a large public square to the south extending to the Ok-Cheon river walkway and the contemporary viewing platform reminiscent of the demolished Yeonja-ru. To the north the landscape stitches together the urban rooms and sunken courtyards forming the art and visitor centre.
Urban Roof. The proposal aims to negotiate the various levels on the site, namely Joonang-Ro (+15.00), Ok-cheon River bank (+12.20), Yeongdong-gil to the west of the site (+16.40) and the underground shopping center (approx. +6.60), refer to diagram A. The floor of the art and visitor center is set at +13.00 (planning flood level). This level allows a roof that artificially bridges the site. This creates a gradient landscape which enables pedestrians to walk across the site without barrier. Visitors for the art and education programmes can approach the building from the urban square to the southern end of the site. The landscape material continues across the road to form a level crossing for pedestrians.
Visitors from the carpark can walk directly across the site or enter the lower ground level to enter the art and visitor center. There is a direct link connecting the art and visitor center to the underground shopping center through an art walkway.
Urban Rooms. The massing of the rooms is generated from extrapolating the flow line across the site. It mimics the grain of the historical city; each volume about the scale of a domestic house.
The extruded massing is trimmed with a surface to create the skyline of the art platform refer to Diagram C. The shape of the skyline responds to the surrounding mountains (mainly to the west of the city) creating an artificial valley with the lowest point at the entrance of the art center. The corner of Okcheon-gil and Joonang-Ro (+15.00) is set as a vista point to view the art platform against the city and mountain skyline. It marks the absence of the historic Yeonja-ru and Old City wall with a void.
