OMA Completes the Galleria Department Store in Gwanggyo, South Korea
OMA
GALLERIA
GWANGGYO
The store is located between Suwon Gwanggyo Lake Park and city buildings on the border between nature and urban environment. The Gallery's facade features a textured triangle mosaic of stone in beige, brown and earth tones that speaks to the nature of the park next door.
The appearance of the building resembles a stone rock protruding from the ground. The stone cube is surrounded by an internal circular zone, which from the outside looks like a belt of precious crystals. This unusual effect made the building a visual anchor of the urban landscape and became an innovative element in the traditional department store typology.
The appearance of the building resembles a stone rock protruding from the ground. The stone cube is surrounded by an internal circular zone, which from the outside looks like a belt of precious crystals. This unusual effect made the building a visual anchor of the urban landscape and became an innovative element in the traditional department store typology.
Since its founding in 1976, South Korean company Hanwha Galleria has specialized in premium retail and department stores. The store in Gwanggyo, a new city south of Seoul, is the chain's sixth branch.
Situated among tall residential towers and young urban development, the Gallery has become a natural focal point for public life in Gwanggyo.
Situated among tall residential towers and young urban development, the Gallery has become a natural focal point for public life in Gwanggyo.
The 540m long glazed walkway starts at ground level and runs twice around the building, providing access to each floor and finally to the roof terrace. Thus, Gwangyeo Gallery becomes a meeting point between retail, culture, city and nature: while shopping, store visitors also interact with architecture and art.
Behind the multi-faceted glass facade, which contrasts with the opacity of the stone, is a cascade of terraces. Walking through them, visitors can admire the panorama of the city from different vantage points, and become participants in cultural events - the “Gallery” space includes both retail space and areas for exhibitions and performances. At the same time, the interior space of the “Gallery” is clearly visible from the street.
"Designing and testing digitally is very efficient, but in reality the look is much more intense and we were afraid it would end up being either too rough or too smooth and not the right balance of both. The end result, however,
works great"
works great"
OMA partner Chris Van Duyn
In total, on the facade with an area of 21,832.45 sq.m. there are 138,000 stone elements, the size of which is 60x60x60 cm.
The loop is formed by 1,646 glass elements with an area of 4,617 sq.m. They are connected by steel components made to order using 3D printing technology
The loop is formed by 1,646 glass elements with an area of 4,617 sq.m. They are connected by steel components made to order using 3D printing technology
The concept of the "Gallery" is based on two main ideas: Gwangyeo's connection with the natural environment and its temporary, centerless nature. Drawing on the site's natural scenery, the façade resembles a sculpted rock made from layered natural sediments. Combined with the multi-faceted glass loop that surrounds the building, edging in and out of the stone volume at certain points, this reinforces the Gallery's connection to its context.
The purpose of using mosaics in the Gallery was to strengthen its connection with the context. This solution was a useful and effective way to evoke the natural surroundings, resulting in a smaller-scale surreal abstraction that maximized the building's contrast with the neutral, repetitive facades of the new city.
In addition, since the Gallery is a retail property, we were aware of the risks that a traditional façade could entail - opacity, rigidity, a generally broken surface - all this is hardly attractive overall. To avoid this, we used color as a tool to create a natural focal point for Gwanggyo and an integral part of the city's aesthetic.
Location
Client
Year of implementation
Square
The project team
Kvanggyo, South Korea
Hanwha Galleria
2016 - 2020
The project is led by Chris van Duijn, Associate Ravi Kamisetti, and Project Architect Patrizia Zobernig. The local executive architect is Gansam.
137,714 m2
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Chris Van Duyn became a partner at OMA in 2014. He leads the work in Asia. Joining the bureau in 1996, he has been involved in many notable OMA projects, including Universal Studios Los Angeles, Prada stores in New York and Los Angeles (2001), Casa da Musica in Porto (2005) and CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012). In addition to large-scale and complex projects, he has worked on interiors and small-scale projects including private homes, product design and temporary structures such as the Prada Transformer in Seoul (2009).
Recently completed projects include the Alexis de Tocqueville Library in Caen, France (2017), the Prada Foundation in Milan (2015) and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015). Current projects in Asia include the Hanwha Galleria department store in Seoul and Prism in Hangzhou. He also led the design of the Jean-Jacques Bosc Bridge in Bordeaux and the construction of the Parc des Expositions in Toulouse. Chris holds a Master's degree in Architecture from TU Delft.
10.30- 20.00
124 Gwanggyojungang-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
+82 31-5174-7114
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