UNStudio selected as the winner in the competition for South Korea's new Chungnam Art Museum

A winner has been announced in the international competition for designs of the new Chungnam Art Museum in South Korea.

UNStudio has been selected to lead the project after an RFQ was announced earlier in the spring. The studio beat out a field of five other high-profile firms for the commission with a malleable scheme that aims to place the museum in community and social context, moving beyond the museum form to create a cultural hub for the province with a population just north of 2 million.

The new museum will be defined by two central features meant to enhance the institution’s communal focus. A culture boulevard will connect both internal and external museum spaces and provide a link between the art, commerce, and social spaces that comprise the site. A plateaued inner courtyard creates an immersive social experience as well as providing visitors with access to the museum’s multiple perspectives.

Per the architect: “These two ‘big details’ are crucial for creating communication spaces, as well as wayfinding, as they enable people to be guided on a continuous experience of space and art from multiple routes and angles.”

The country is undergoing a major boom in museum construction of late, with several new public and private collections finding new homes both in and out of Seoul.  

UNStudio will partner with DA Group and Squint/Opera on the layout and exhibition design for the net-zero museum. Landscape designer Loos van Vliet will also contribute to the design of the 26,000-square-meter site in Naepo New City. An opening date for the museum was not available at press time.