The Galleria attempts to re-define the traditional typology of such a place, as changing societal norms in Asia have led supermarkets to operate as “social and semi-cultural meeting places,” according to Ben van Berkel.   As a result, the project blends the functional aspect of a large scale commercial store, while placing emphasis on maintaining a sense of public space for social and cultural aspects.



The strength of the Galleria lies in the project’s analysis of the users as the architecture is based on observations of current behavioral tendencies in large commercial spaces.   According to UNStudio, particularly in South East Asia, department stores serve a highly social function; people meet, gather, eat, drink and both shop and window shop in these venues. The department store is no longer solely a commercial space, it now offers the architect the opportunity to build upon and expand the social and cultural experience of the visitor. If today we are seeing the museum as a supermarket, then we are also now seeing the department store as a museum.

The interior derives its character from the accumulation of rounded plateaus on long columns. The repetition of curves, enhanced by coiled strip lighting in the ceilings of the platforms, gives the interior its distinctive character. Four stacked program clusters, each encompassing three storeys and containing public plateaus, are linked to the central void. This organisation propels a fluent upstream flow of people through the building, from the ground floor atrium to the roof terrace. As the plateaus are positioned in a rotational manner in space, they enable the central space to encompass way finding, vertical circulation, orientation and act as main attractor of the department store. The spatial and visual connections within the space are designed to generate a lively and stimulating environment, in which the user is central.



From the exterior, the Galleria boasts a dynamic double layered facade intended to stimulate use experience.  The skin is articulated in a trompe l’oeuil pattern of vertical mullions making the building vertually scale-less as the structure provides no hint as to how many stories it contains. On the inside, this play with scale and dimension is continued in a way that is at least as radical as the outside.

Project Information:
Galleria Centercity, Cheonan, South-Korea

Client: Hanwha Galleria Co. LTD
ARCHITECT: UNStudio, Amsterdam
Design team: Ben van Berkel, Astrid Piber with Ger Gijzen, Marc Herschel and Marianthi Tatari, Sander Versluis, Albert Gnodde, Jorg Lonkwitz, Tom Minderhoud, Lee Jae-young, Woo Jun-seung, Constantin Boincean, Yu-chen Lin
Interior: Ben van Berkel, Astrid Piber with Ger Gijzen, Cristina Bolis and Veronica Baraldi, Lee Jae-young, Felix Lohrmann, Kirsten Hollmann, Albert Gnodde, Martijn Prins, Joerg Lonkwitz, Malaica Cimenti, Florian Licht, William de Boer, Eelco Grootjes, Alexia Koch
PROJECT DETAILS: Location: 521-3 Buldang-dong, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea
Program: Department Store with parking garage, supermarket and food court, restaurants, kids’ café, VIP lounge, art center and cultural center and roof top terraces
Site Area: 11,235m2
Building Area: 7090 m2
Gross Floor Area: 110,530.73m2
Building Coverage: 63.30%
Floors: 6 below grade, 10 above grade
Structure: Steel-concrete composite columns, floor: steel structure with concrete slab.

UNStudio

“Traditional but modern!” That was the requirement of the clients, in their thirties, who worked as authors and publishers. For a long time, successful translation of tradition expressed in a modern vocabulary has been a goal of design for Korean architects presently. That has been a very complex puzzle and a difficult problem to solve. However, it’s essential to study the heritage of tradition, since tradition could be the motive of creation.

The spatial design concept set for this small house was based on is dramatic circulation, which was characteristic of traditional architecture in Korea. The circulation of ancient Korea continues infinitely in space, overlaps and penetrates each other asymmetrically, and finally, produces several picturesque frames by surrounding nature and building.

At this time, the house has to be a shelter from the outer world. It is necessary to contact with nature which brings the urban house rich changes and variation during its life time(i.e., witnessing the blossoming and decaying of flowers). “Madang”(open court yard) was the very “nature” in ancient Korea.

Eight places of “madang” located in different levels were planned to produce attractive and interesting drama of spaces. All the major spaces of this house were designed to have a direct relationship to “madang”. Entrance  court, basement courts Ⅰ&Ⅱ, jungja(pavilion), service court, inner court, and upper court Ⅰ&Ⅱ were all the “madangs” at different levels that linked each other with both horizontal and vertical circulation. There are interesting changes, variety, through the circulation between the “madang”.

Architects: IROJE KHM Architects
Location: JangHangDong, IlSan, GoYang, Korea
Architect in Charge: HyoMan Kim
Project manager: JiWon Han
Site area: 231.6 sqm
Gloss floor area: 199.22 sqm
Photographs: YongKwan Kim

IROJE KHM Architects

Stocky Tower
Generally, the plan of this tower typology is determined by the maximum site coverage (60% in this case), and the maximum F.A.R. (800%), and is repeatedly stacked vertically. Proportionately, this typology is usually on the stable, short side and thus referred to as a “stocky” tower. In this plan, a tower of 14 floors (800% ÷ 60% = 13.333) is possible. The site is located near the Yeouido National Assembly, in an area that has been developed since the 1980′s and mostly populated with towers built according to this equation to similar height and capacity scales. An urban environment crowded with these types of towers is often monotonous and uninteresting, while the paucity of space between towers results in an oppressive cityscape.



Podium Tower
Prototype 1 (Standard): This type is possible when there is enough vertical allowance. The lower four or five levels, mostly filled with high-profit commercial entities, forming a podium of maximum site coverage. Smaller (and therefore less efficient) floors are stacked repeatedly on top of the podium, using extra vertical allowance to reach its maximum height. The podium’s capacity maximizes value and invigorates the neighborhood, while the slimness of the tower improves lighting and views inside. In this project, the site is by a 100m-wide street that adds extra height allowance, for a possible total of 36 floors.

Prototype 2 (L-shaped): This is a variation of the podium tower; The tower atop the podium faces the street and horizontally forms an L-shape. The tower’s visibility increases from the street, while increased distance from neighboring buildings to the rear improves the overall environment.

Bundle Matrix
The L-shaped podium tower is reorganized and transforms into three vertical elements: three slimmer towers. The central core tower, the adjoined street-side tower, the adjoined rear tower and the podium form an “L” that continues as one element.

The core tower is of reinforced concrete construction, the other two, of steel construction. With the core tower at the center, the slimmer steel construction towers lean at varying angles that still maintain structural soundness. This will create as much distance as possible between the three towers and add outdoor space between them. Because of these spaces, there are many rooms inside the tower with an unusual amount of access and exposure to the outside for a more desirable residential/work environment.

Architects: Mass Studies
Location: Seoul, Korea
Project Team: Minsuk Cho, Kisu Park, Zongxoo U, Younkyoung Shin, Sangkyu Jeon, Jingyoung Ha, Geunmi Ryu, Jieun Lee, Joonhee Lee, Daeun Jeong, Bumhyun Chun, Kiwoong Ko, Hartmut Flothmann, Dongchul Yang, Seongbeom Mo, Byungkyun Kim, Jisoo Kim, Songmin Lee, Vin Kim, Young Kim, Ranhee Kim, Kwangjin Woo, Minho Hwang, Jiyoung Yoon, Chungwhan Park
Structural Engineering: Junwoo Structure
MEP Engineering: HANA Consulting & Engineers
Civil Engineering: CG E&C
Landscaping: Alban Mannisi + Soltos Landscaping
Construction: SK E&C
Client: SK Networks
Site Area: 2,931 sqm
Project Area: 39,898.56 sqm
Design Year: 2006
Construction Year: 2006-2009
Photographs: Iwan Baan, Kyungsub Shin & Yong-Kwan Kim

Mass Studies