A cat has become a museum.
There once was a chinese emperor who liked cats a lot, and one day he called upon the most famous painter in the Empire and asked him to paint him a cat. The artist liked the idea and promised that he would work on it. A year passed and the Emperor remembered that the painter still had not given him the painting of the cat. He called him: What of the cat? 
It is nearly ready, answered the artist. Another year went by, and another and another. The scene kept repeating itself. After seven years, the Emperor’s patience came to an end and he sent for the painter. What of the cat? Seven years have gone by. You have promised and promised but I still haven’t seen one! 
The painter grabs a sheet of rice paper, an ink well, one of those brushes like you can only get in the East and… in an elegant and sublime gesture he draws a cat, which was not just a cat but only the most beautiful cat ever seen. 
The Emperor was ecstatic, overwhelmed with such beauty. He did not neglect (which is no longer the case nowadays) to ask the artist how much he would charge for such beautiful drawing. The painter asked for a sum which surprised the Emperor. So much money for a drawing that you did in two seconds, in front of me? said the Emperor. Yes Excellency, that is true, but I have been drawing cats for seven years now, replied the poor painter.
The project for the Museum Mimesis, in the new town of Paju Book City in South Korea, is a cat. The client didn’t have to wait for seven years for his drawing of a cat, but Álvaro Siza has been drawing cats for over seven years now. He has never seen a Korean cat, because he has never been there.
In architecture, after an initial sketch comes the torment. The initial design, models, drawings, corrections to these, doubts, new drawings, new models, a presentation to the client, who had already seen other projects but could not conceal his surprise at this one. Once approved, we progressed the project on through the usual steps, which in Korea are shorter and less bureaucratic.
© FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Architects: Alvaro Siza + Castanheira & Bastai Arquitectos Associados + Jun Sung Kim
Location: Paju Book City, Republic of Korea
Project Coordinator: Dalila Gomes
Construction Coordinator: Young-il Park
Collaborators: Chungheon Han, João Figueiredo
Client: Open Books Publishing Co.
Structure: Gayoon ENC
Mechanical Installations: Hansan Engineering Co.
Electricity: Jung-Myoung Engeneering Group Co.
Construction Company: Hanool Construction Co.
Project Year: 2007-2009
Photographs: FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
