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The rough finish of the existing concrete and brick structure contrasts with the white exhibition space of Seoul’s Arario Gallery, which was completed by Japanese studio Schemata Architects.
The gallery is located behind the Space Complex building, an icon of Korean modernism, which houses the Arario Museum.
Designed by architect Kim Swoo-geun, the heritage-listed gray brick building was completed in the 1970s and converted into a museum in 2014.
Next to the building is a 1990s glass extension of a traditional Korean house, or hanok, that was moved to the original site when it reopened in 2014 by architect Jang Se-yang, a student of Swoo-geun.
In this architectural context is a brick-and-concrete structure added to the site in the 1980s, which Schemata Architects was responsible for transforming into the Alario Gallery.
Jo Nagasaka, principal of Schemata Architects, said: “For me as a Japanese architect, building a third building (excluding Hanok) was a huge challenge, especially after seeing the two buildings that the masters and apprentices have already built. After the perfect contrast between the two.”.
In order to create a space that “appears unchanged”, the studio retained the building’s structural frame and dark brickwork, which were originally chosen to complement the space cluster architecture.
“In this case, we felt it would be inappropriate to insert another unique feature into the landscape,” explains Nagasaka.
White-walled gallery spaces are spread over four floors and a basement, adjacent to existing stairs, elevators, service and storage areas, leaving the structure’s rough material finishes exposed.
In these more industrial-feeling spaces, the walls are made using plywood over metal frames. Paired with metal doors and white metal railings, they deliberately stand out from the “skeleton” of the existing building.
In the basement, the dark gray brickwork of the adjacent museum is echoed by a brick floor that extends throughout the space.
On the third floor, part of the facade was removed to create a full-height glass wall in the VIP area. From here you can see nearby Changdeokgung Palace and the surrounding park, as well as through the windows in the stairwell.
“In this way, we established repeating patterns where visitors can enter a skeletal space from the white cube and see the palace beyond as they ascend to the upper floors,” said Nagasaka.
Schemata Architects is a Tokyo-based studio founded by Nagasaka in 1998 after graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts.
Its previous projects include a public bath house in Tokyo decorated with turquoise tiles and a hillside hotel and bar on the coast of an island in the Seto Inland Sea.
Photography is by Choi Yongjun.
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