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Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

Seoul, Korea
Architect
OMA
Executive Architect
SAMOO

The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, completed in 2004, is a 27,000 m2 museum complex centrally located in Seoul’s Hannam-dong district envisioned and administered by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. The Museum houses an extensive collection of traditional Korean art, including national treasures, in addition to Korean Modern and Contemporary Art. A unique architectural collaboration between OMA, who conceived the masterplan, Mario Botta, and Jean Nouvel, the Museum complex is comprised of five stories and four basement levels across three gallery exhibition spaces and a sculpture garden. Visually, each building appears to be a stand-alone pavilion with its own distinctive exterior characteristics emblematic of its designer yet they are adjoined at the basement level to create a unified visitor experience. Front consulted on building enclosure from concept design through schematic design for the OMA designed building, the last to be completed within the complex and conceived as an expansion to the other structures.

The building, accessible by a ramp and positioned on a slope, serves as the main entrance to the Museum. The lobby and information center, wherein all the buildings converge, features a centrally suspended monumental black concrete box to be circumnavigated, directing the visitor experience and allowing the space to be enveloped in the changing natural light conditions from above. The remaining areas of the building, including its upper floors, function as the Child Education and Cultural Art Centers, providing space for contemporary art exhibitions in addition to media and office use. Front’s scope for the building included all of the exterior glazed wall systems and the glass balustrades. The façade, employing an advanced technique at the time of design, is characterized by double-height shadow box curtain wall assembly and continuous long-spanned glass, conveying a refined architectural expression on the contrasting ideas of solidity and transparency.

The project received the 2005 Excellence in Design Award for Civic Architecture from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Marc Simmons/Front
Marc Simmons/Front
Marc Simmons/Front
Marc Simmons/Front
Marc Simmons/Front

The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, completed in 2004, is a 27,000 m2 museum complex centrally located in Seoul’s Hannam-dong district envisioned and administered by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. The Museum houses an extensive collection of traditional Korean art, including national treasures, in addition to Korean Modern and Contemporary Art. A unique architectural collaboration between OMA, who conceived the masterplan, Mario Botta, and Jean Nouvel, the Museum complex is comprised of five stories and four basement levels across three gallery exhibition spaces and a sculpture garden. Visually, each building appears to be a stand-alone pavilion with its own distinctive exterior characteristics emblematic of its designer yet they are adjoined at the basement level to create a unified visitor experience. Front consulted on building enclosure from concept design through schematic design for the OMA designed building, the last to be completed within the complex and conceived as an expansion to the other structures.

The building, accessible by a ramp and positioned on a slope, serves as the main entrance to the Museum. The lobby and information center, wherein all the buildings converge, features a centrally suspended monumental black concrete box to be circumnavigated, directing the visitor experience and allowing the space to be enveloped in the changing natural light conditions from above. The remaining areas of the building, including its upper floors, function as the Child Education and Cultural Art Centers, providing space for contemporary art exhibitions in addition to media and office use. Front’s scope for the building included all of the exterior glazed wall systems and the glass balustrades. The façade, employing an advanced technique at the time of design, is characterized by double-height shadow box curtain wall assembly and continuous long-spanned glass, conveying a refined architectural expression on the contrasting ideas of solidity and transparency.

The project received the 2005 Excellence in Design Award for Civic Architecture from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

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