After 3 years of design and construction, SO – IL, the architectural studio of Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu, complete a space for Kukje Gallery, in the historic neighborhood of Samcheong-ro in Seoul, South-Korea.
Kukje Gallery is committed to presenting the work of the most current and significant Korean and international contemporary artists. The project’s objectives are two-fold; to strengthen contemporary Korean culture’s presence in the art world and to sensitively integrate a state-of-the-art gallery space into an historic area of northern Seoul. The contextual design responds with a balance of bold contemporary aesthetics and intricate traditional techniques.
A standard white cube gallery would be too austere for the historic urban fabric. Architects pushed all circulation to the periphery and enveloped the whole structure in a hand-fabricated chainmail veil, unique in strength and drape. Computational processes synthesized with traditional fabrication techniques created the bespoke façade of 510,000 metal rings. Designers worked with engineers at Front Inc. to develop the façade through research and testing, and was then produced by local craftsmen in Anping, China.
Kukje Gallery hosts robust international arts programming within a compact form. The gallery is a flexible platform for engaging with art. It transforms from an ambient day-lit space to a blackout space for projections and light-critical works.
