Username Password  
  Forgot your password?  
ItalianoEnglish
 
  COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
HOME
ARCHITECT | LOCATION | TYPOLOGY | EXHIBITIONS | ADVANCED SEARCH

BUILDING
 
 
Galleria Centercity
Top
DESIGNER
 
 
UNStudio
Top
DESCRIPTION
 
Ben van Berkel “If museums are turning into supermarkets, why then should department stores not turn into museums?”
"The Galleria Cheonan responds to the current retail climate in Asia, where department stores also operate as social and semi-cultural meeting places. Because of this, the quality of the public spaces within the building was treated as an integral aspect of the design."
Ben van Berkel
Eye Shopping – Re-conquering the public domain within a commercial destination
UNStudio Ben van Berkel Galleria CentercityUNStudio's Galleria Centercity Department Store in the Korean city of Cheonan reclaims the social and cultural space within the private, commercial large scale department store.

Rather than being the outcome of a prescriptive, standard-critical approach, the design of the Galleria Centercity is based on observations of current behavioural tendencies in large commercial spaces. 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.

UNStudio Ben van Berkel Galleria CentercityAn expanded interpretation of utility beyond efficiency and profitability is at the heart of the design. In view of this, along with a more varied programme, UNStudio’s design seeks to provide a stimulating experience for the visitor.

On the outside, this is translated into an appearance that is almost impossible to fix. The double layered facades are articulated in a trompe l’oeil pattern of vertical mullions. The vertical lines on the façade make the scale of the building unreadable; does it contain three floor levels, or fifteen? On the inside, this play with scale and dimension is continued in a way that is at least as radical as the outside. Upon entering, the department store is revealed as a layered and varied space which encourages investigation and unfolds as you move through and up the building.

Programmatically, the Galleria Cheonan incorporates a number of cultural and public spaces, including an art and cultural centre and a vip room. In the basement, a food court and specialty supermarket constitute another distinct destination within the building, which is simultaneously integrated with the overall design strategy.
Cheonan –New city development as platform for innovation
Situated some 80km south of Seoul, Cheonan is well connected to the capital by railway and road, with a new high speed rail link having recently been completed. The area around the new high speed terminal is under development and - prominently visible from the main road - the Galleria Centercity marks the entrance to this new development area.

"The most interesting thing to me about the effect of the Galleria Cheonan is that, because of the organisation of the atrium and the moiré treatment of the facade, Illusions are created which result in the seeming alteration of scales and the creation of double images. No image is permanent in this building."
Ben van Berkel
Dynamic Flow and optical illusion on a grand scale
UNStudio Ben van Berkel Galleria CentercityThe main architectural theme for the Galleria Cheonan is that of dynamic flow. This is found both inside and outside. The architecture of the 66,000 m ² building responds to its central position by presenting a deliberately changeable aspect all-around. Moiré effects, special lighting and animations ensure that the outside changes appearance constantly.
UNStudio Ben van Berkel Galleria CentercityThe double layered facade encloses the building, with a number of strategic openings incorporated into the inner facade layer. These openings provide daylight to the interior. At the same time, the lamellas of the outer façade prevent direct sunlight from entering the building, ensuring a cooler environment, while the use of white finishes throughout the interior minimises the need for artificial lighting.

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 programme 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.
Media facade - The largest illuminated surface of its kind in the world
UNStudio Ben van Berkel Galleria CentercityThe strategy for the building enclosure consists of creating an optical illusion. During the day the building has a monochrome reflective appearance, whilst at night soft colours are used to generate waves of coloured light across the large scale illuminated surface. The lighting design was developed in parallel with the architecture and capitalises on the double layered facade structure. Computer generated animations specially designed by UNStudio are incorporated into the lighting design and refer to themes related to the department store, such as fashion, events, art and public life.
Place branding – not name branding
UNStudio Ben van Berkel Galleria CentercityRather than creating a platform for a multiple billboard effect made up of individual brand identities, the thematic animated content of the fully integrated media façade facilitates a more holistic and site-oriented urban approach to branding.

Edit by UNStudio
Photos by Christian Richters, Kim Yong-kwan
If you haven't already clicked on the photo strip at the top of the page, for the gallery of photos and drawings, enter here
Top
MATERIALS
 
steel, reinforced concrete

Structure: Steel-concrete composite columns
Floor: steel structure with concrete slab.

Top
LOCATION
 
Continent
Asia
Nation
South Korea [Taehan Min'guk]
Province
South Chungcheong [Chungcheongnam-do]
Town
Cheonan [Cheonan-si]
Address
521-3 Buldang-dong, Seobuk-gu
 
 
Website
Top
TYPOLOGY
 
Main
ARCHITECTURE
Commercial buildings
Department stores, supermarkets, shopping centres, etc.
Additional
ARCHITECTURE
Buildings for cultural activities
Art galleries and exhibition areas
Conference halls
Commercial buildings
Bars, cafeterias
Restaurants
Transport buildings and structures
Garages, car parking, etc.
Top
CHRONOLOGY
 
Project
2005    
Realisation
2008 - 2011
Top
BIBILIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
 
 
UnStudio Ben van Berkel Galleria CheonanArthur Wortmann, "Eye Shopping", Mark 31, april-may 2011, "Long Section" pp. 100-109
Kieran Long, "Galleria department store, Seoul", Icon 19, january 2005, pp. 30-31
Top
CLIENT
 
 
Hanwha Galleria Co. LTD
Top
DIMENSIONAL
DATA
 
Surface
site sq.m. 11,235
building sq.m. 7,090 (63.30%)
gross floor sq.m. 110,530.73
Volume
m³ 395,600 above ground
m³ 297,200 underground
Floors
10 above ground
6 underground
Top
STRUCTURES
 
 
Kopeg Engineering
Top
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
 
 
GANSAM Architects & Partners
Top
STAFF
 
Architect of record
GANSAM Architects & Partners
Design team
UNStudio, Amsterdam
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

GANSAM Architects & Partners, Seoul, South Korea
Kim Tai-jip, Han Ki-young, Nam Myung-kwan, Yoon Chang-bae, Park Seong-beom, Kwon Na-young, Nam Young-ho
Interior design
UNStudio, Amsterdam
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

GANSAM Architects & Partners, Seoul, South Korea
Lee Seung-youn, No Se-hyo, Ryu Hee-won, Na Min-hee
 
 
Contacts    Copyright © 2004 - 2024 MONOSTUDIO | ARCHITECTOUR.NET
 
| Disclaimer | Conditions of use | Credits |
 
       
?>