The design developed by 3XN GXN aims to bring art to everyone and establishes both a direct and an abstract connection with nature, intending to use it as a source of inspiration. Together with project partners SIAPLAN and MDA, the Chungnam Art Centre's sustainability strategy adds value and optimises performance for both people and the planet.
"The key inspiration for our project comes from the movement. The Chungnam Art Centre will be a place as vibrant, layered and expressive as the art it will house. We are delighted to have been selected for this project to bring to Chungcheongnam-do Province a place where everyone can experience art, and also participate in it for themselves".
Kim Herforth Nielsen, founder and creative director of 3XN GXN.
Rendering. Chungnam Art Center by 3XN GXN.
Art in Movement / Art is Movement
The arts bring magic and myth to life and allow us to imagine and experience worlds beyond our own. They give form to an unspoken language of expression and movement. The Chungnam Art Center is made in this language, taking inspiration from the wave of a conductor’s baton; the arc of a dancer’s pointed toe as it arcs through the air.
Art plays the leading role in both the function and the design of the Chungnam Art Center, which balances a rational concept with an expressive form. The key elements of the program (the halls, lobby, and fly-tower) are efficiently clustered together, the subtle arced forms of the roof to respond to the heights and volumes of the program within. Echoing the curves of the roof, a scalloped timber cladding envelops the hall’s outer walls, the concave spaces creating entry niches, seating and program spaces along the lobby’s periphery. And the lobby itself is clear and open, with clear sightlines across the lobby and to the gardens and plazas outside.
“Performance facilities have a high level of complexity, but it is important that users – whether they are visitors or performers – do not feel this complexity. The floor plans and circulation are clear and straightforward, the halls are designed to the highest acoustic standards and lines of sight, and there are spaces throughout the art center that accommodate both large gatherings and day-to-day support and community functions. It’s a building that expresses movement, while reducing its perceived scale.”
Fred Holt, Partner and Director of 3XN Australia.
The roof’s curved expression masks a simple diagram: the roof plane is draped over the program volumes, folded in half over the central, diagonal axis, then sliced and arced to fit the functions below.
Rendering. Chungnam Art Center by 3XN GXN
Accentuating the Surrounding Landscape
The Chungnam Art Precinct is nestled between the growing district of Naepo New Town and the Yongbongsan Mountains, a small range to the south-west of the site that is strewn with popular hiking trails and lookout points. The mountains form the backdrop to the precinct, itself a sprawling park landscape populated by the art center, library, and art museum (for which UN Studio won the competition in 2021).
“It was important that the building related directly to its immediate context, as seen with the rotation of its siting to have a face towards the main arrival, but also to the surrounding mountains and landscape. It’s a building that pulls visitors in, while providing great views outward; allowing the mountains to act as an interior elevation so to speak.”
Fred Holt, Partner and Director of 3XN Australia.
Respecting this location, the building’s footprint is concentrated to give as much park space back to the city, as possible. Where the library and art museum follow an alignment with the main street, the art center is rotated to create better physical and visual connections to both the other buildings and to the surrounding nature. The building is designed with no visible ‘front side’ or ‘back side’, giving visitors stunning views out, and passersby a beautiful image in of the building regardless of where they are in the precinct.
“The visitor experience of any great piece of architecture starts on the approach. When visitors approach the art center from the street and ascend through the landscape with its cluster of trees and winding paths, the roof and arrival lobby are revealed, both mimicking and framing the surrounding mountain landscape.”
Fred Holt, Partner and Director of 3XN Australia.
Diagram. Chungnam Art Center by 3XN GXN
Local Design Strategies
The sustainability strategy for Chungnam Art Center is holistic and truly integrated into the architecture, adding value and optimizing performance for both people and the planet. This includes working with biodiversity, human well-being and comfort, and a resilient and robust design.
A strong sense of place is a cornerstone of sustainable design. Through a placemaking strategy, the building is designed to amplify the site’s existing qualities for all users. As such, it will be a space that brings people together and where culture becomes accessible and inclusive for all.
Learning from the existing landscape, the design’s approach to biophilia is structured on twin strategies, a direct and an abstract connection with nature. For direct connection, the focus is on maximizing visibility to the grand landscapes that surround the site with a planted park dissolving the boundary between nature and culture as one approaches. The abstract connection with nature is found through the curving roof forms and the use of natural materials such as wood and stone.
Additional sustainability efforts include photovoltaics integrated seamlessly into the roof while rainwater will also be harvested.
