Gong:won
07Original drawings are preserved. Their embedded annotations may remain in Korean; the project narrative and figure captions are available in English. Expand “Reading this drawing” below a figure for translated main labels or a reading guide where available. Select an image to inspect it at full resolution.
A park-like exhibition space introducing emptiness and places to pause into the dense streets of Seongsu-dong. The street, park, sunken space, and underground galleries connect to accommodate a choice of brief stays or exhibition visits.
Design Concept
Gong:won (Empty Garden) is a park-like exhibition space that combines places to pause with exhibitions along a street in Seongsu-dong. In an area densely occupied by visitor attractions and commercial activity, it offers a place to stay without a specific purpose or to view an exhibition.
Here, 'pausing' is defined as a brief stay that allows existing activities to continue, distinct from a rest that interrupts daily life. The spatial organization follows a sequence of entering from the street, staying, and moving on.
Emptiness
Emptiness is understood both as an unfilled spatial state and as a condition that can accommodate diverse activities. The design makes empty space perceptible in contrast to the density of its surroundings.
A park between buildings and a cabin in a forest serve as conceptual images for examining how a difference from the surrounding environment can create a place to stay. Spatial depth and continuity control the degree of separation from urban stimuli.
Site Analysis
The proposed site combines parcels totaling approximately 1,600 m² around 4 Yeonmujang 5-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. Pedestrian flows, visitor facilities, and noise distribution were surveyed in relation to visitors to the Seongsu-dong cafe district.
Weekend daytime pedestrian data came from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, while cafes, pop-up stores, shops, and other destinations were mapped directly. Noise was measured at nearby intersections and plotted as a distribution. These materials record the site survey at the time of design; they do not represent current conditions or measured performance of the proposal.
Reading this drawing
The three site-analysis layers read, from left to right: pedestrian activity, surrounding content/programs, and noise. The outlined parcel is compared with each surrounding condition.
Entry Sequence
The route from the street into the empty interior space is organized as an architectural sequence. A circular grid is centered on points most affected by the surrounding environment, with selected areas filled by building volumes to moderate those external influences.
Entry and passage routes run between the volumes. Routes through the park connect with spaces for staying in the lounge and galleries, allowing visitors to choose the extent of their stay.
Exhibition Program
Exhibitions are integrated with spaces for pausing so that visitors without a specific intention to view art can encounter work by emerging and student artists.
Small objects and paintings are placed alongside furniture and lounges, while larger three-dimensional works become central spatial elements. Installation art is treated as a category in which the work itself forms the space. Without prescribing a fixed viewing order, the proposal accommodates both brief stays and focused viewing.
Design Process
The initial individual proposal explored program and zoning around the idea of rest. As the uses of the spaces became more specific, the relationship between exhibition and rest developed further.
Sketches explored circular spaces, circulation, and changes in height. After examining conditions for separating and connecting spaces, the initial approach of dividing areas through artificial terrain was adjusted to a composition of slabs and walls.
Reading this drawing
The original sketch develops a sequence of rounded spaces and connecting routes, with levels and a hill indicated by hand.
Plans and Sections
The ground level contains an open lounge, art shop, pergola, and park, connected to the underground exhibition areas through a sunken gallery. Below ground are permanent and outdoor exhibition spaces, an installation art space, lobby, cafeteria, and rest and support spaces for artists.
Passage and rest at ground level and exhibition viewing below ground occupy different layers, linked by the sunken space and stairs. The plans and sections below show the design as subsequently reorganized.
Spatial Organization
The main entrance is conceived as an open space connecting the street to the lounge and greenery. The sunken gallery combines circulation between ground and basement levels with places to stay.
Curved walls and overhead daylight create conditions in the basement lobby that differ from those at ground level. Renderings explore the depth and connections of the sequence from entrance to sunken space to lobby.
Model Study
An individual design model was used to examine the relationships between neighboring buildings, the park, lounge, and sunken space. Its upper part is removable to allow study of the arrangement of the underground exhibition spaces.