Past to future | Paolo ALPE

Introduction

Fostering its natural environment such as world class Suncheon Bay Garden, Suncheon has succeeded in promoting itself to be an ‘eco-city’. Through the creation of a city associated with its excellent natural environment, it navigates through a new urban development generating a positive impression on visitors and its own citizens.

However, despite having a variety of historical and cultural trails within the Suncheon Wall, the Old City has been neglected due to rapid industrialization. In the early 2000s, by arranging scattered historical trails and networking with current cultural potential, the City of Suncheon, the citizens and experts have been making efforts to regenerate the Old City articulating a new vision for it as a ‘Humanities City’.

The Suncheon Art Platform will play a crucial role to the exploration of the importance and meaning of ‘the humanities city’. One goal of this competition is to find possibilities of an art center that help test its potential, as a generator of the revival of the Old City – as more than a showcase of art works, as a gateway to cultural activity, a hub of community activity, and how that all interrelates with the adjacent cultural and historical trails.

Concept & Urban space

The intervention site and its context leading people to seek a "gathering" solution, capable of making you feel emotionally comfortable the visitor. The architectural solutions proposed (shapes, materials, textures, lights and colors) aim to create an environment where the visitor and the user can identify and recognize, other than the home, but not a stranger; broad but not empty; technologically efficient, but with use of natural materials, environmentally friendly and comfortable. The idea stems from the study of the ancient city of Suncheon plant: the proto-circular shape; the doors to the city rigidly placed along the cardinal points; the protective walls of stone erected in defense of the anthropological heritage guarded internally; battlements summit of the walls; the trails that start from the city to the mountains; the materials of traditional Korean construction ...a green lug/cultural city center!

The building will have, in a modular lay out, to outline the central area in the garden where finds location a semicircular imprint fountain reminiscent of the original form of the ancient city. The alternation of elements built, perimeter, in different modular heights recreates a curtain wall that evokes the battlements of the ancient walls. The permeability to the space is guaranteed by the four large portals access to the area where the central location is a partially flat garden, perfect space to gather visitors to attend musical or theatrical performances. A second part of the garden, located north of the site, is in slight ascent to the museum area. This portion remember the many hiking trails that once surrounded the ancient city represented by fountain.

Path & Accessibility

Designed like high usability structure the Sucheon Art Platform follows the pattern of access of the old city around the two main structuring cardinal axes: south/north, east/west. The access points to the complex are clearly denounced by the presence of portals that emphasize the presence of such openings. Inside, the Sucheon Art Platform is spread over several floors at different elevations, easily reached along a low slope ramps (up 8%), stairs or using one of the many lift plants located in strategic points of the plant. All vertical corridors are placed at a distance of less than 50 m. among them ensuring safe and easy practicability of the building. The vertical corridors also provide access to the basement for parking but especially to the roof garden that lends itself as a lookout and exhibition space/expression outdoors. The battlements system, made by strips of wood, recreates a succession of "protected" areas where events can happen and enjoying the view of the garden and on the city places a few meters down. The central garden, designed as a series of tanks containing fragrant and floral essences, presents pedestrian paths at a constant slope and width of 150 cm. together with the maneuvering and socialization spaces obtained by deletion of one or more modular elements of the garden. The garden is situated to the north portion connects the Art Platform heart with the museum space while also allowing people with disabilities to enjoy outdoor spaces and art exhibitions. Also with the system of paths it can easily be used as an escape route in case of accidents.

Green sistem

Public green area located centrally is an integral part of the system of Art Platform. The project involves the construction of an artificial relief, obtained with part volumes of earthworks resulting from digging footings and accomplishment of the parking lot, located at the North of the site to recreate a naturalistic "continuum" between the new Museum building and the green zone used as a square. The green space is organized thematically and becomes a place where users can experience contact with nature. Among the buildings composing the new cultural center/information there is a paved area, to meet and follow representations. The central space, between buildings, becomes common, and can become a theatrical venue, ideal for cultural activities outside and venue for the staging of performances and outdoor performances during the summer.

The inclined plane is at the same time, green area and museum space. The maze of paths to better identify an exhibition that allows the inside/outside the exhibition space intended strictly speaking. In this case, deleting one or more elements of the garden allows the formation of outdoor exhibition areas, focal points of a hugging exposure with our eyes the whole complex.

The fountain at the center of the site is used to introduce a natural element essential for life: water. It can be powered by means of the first rain and is a natural climate system for the outside of the buildings. Falling, the mass of water helps to move the air inside of the courtyard of Suncheon Art platform together with the creation of convection recreated from various openings in perimeter built.

Space lay out

The arrangement of the spaces that form the Suncheon Art Platform is derived from examination of the expectations of a possible user that uploads to the site from the east, where is located the busiest street between those bordering the spaces and the underground shopping center place in close liaison through an underground walkway.

Underground Floor

Connect to the underground shopping gallery the underground floor hosts: the parking area, some technical spaces (lift box, fountain room, etc…) and all the vertical paths to the Art Platform.

Ground Floor

Coming From the east the visitor crossing the door will greet the visitor center provide tourists with help and relating services for the convenience of visitors collect and promote tourist attractions of Suncheon and other areas induce visitors to communicate with residents at the art center. The visitor center contain the service desk area shall contain a fixed section that includes an information display, leaflet area, and general storage with a concealed safe. Close to the main public areas there are the space for the staff (storage, meeting room, locker room) and services for the public.

Opposite to the visitor center, the exhibition shop where visitors can find souvenirs, catalogues or publications of the exposures in progress in Art Platform. Crossing the east gate you may have a first glimpse into the central green area with space for the performances intestate on the fountain. On the north side of the site are disabled accessible parking location; a large covered area for access to the foyer of the exhibition center, the storage and work space and the exit of the underground car park. On the west side is locating a second door for access to the site. It is included in a pilotis, served by two "vertical corridors", used as secondary disabled parking, space of representation and aggregation, access to the basement parking lots. To the south it opens into the main port Yeonia Ru, overlooking the Ockheon Stream, where there is a bar service and a location for socializing outside. The new Yeonia Ru Through contemporary interpretation of the old, both in aesthetics and programs, it would became a new icon of the Old City recognizing trails of the city wall and the South Gate where the old Yeonja-ru once rested.

First Floor

On the first floor of the cultural complex develop some covered / open spaces, protected by the facade cladding systems and used for exhibitions, performances and / or art installations. Designed to accommodate cultural tours or events areas, such areas are intimately linked to the exhibition center and allows a wide versatility of the museum which can be broken down into various sizes and levels all easily reached by people with disabilities. The sleeve east, as well as forming a balcony on the central park is devoted to exposure outdoors by connecting to the north wing, through the door, where it develops the space of exhibition center. Continuing west, a fully glazed hinge forms the north door of the Art Platform. This hinge is invested with a double meaning: be the ticket / information point for the exhibition space; ideally represent the north gate, transparent, the city placed on axis with the old tree to preserve and highlight. Connected with the window hinge, the educational space allows visitors to take advantage of the multi-function space allowing for people to gather, learn, have meetings, talks and functions. This is a space devoted to general public in direct relation with the museum activities such as conferences, community meetings, and other educational activities. It is composed by: multi-purpose lecture theater, experience room and get to its service a preparation room, for sound control, storage, etc.

The sleeve west of the complex is home to minor exhibition spaces and the administration composed by a reception with waiting space, kitchen, meeting room, administration office, open space office for curators, management and communication departments, small archive.

Second Floor

To the second floor, last one visitable, the visitors could find a roof garden with special point of views on the plaza above and quiet space for reading. Even if there’s a lot of space in the inferior level the roof garden is available for reach public event, exhibition of temporary installation, or simply for a walk through, in a continues game of lights and shadows

Costruction, energy efficiency and development sustainability

The Art Platform founded on a elastic concrete continues basement that supported a concrete underground basket that hosts parking area. Out of ground floor the building is supported by a steel punctual structure mixed with a collaborating slabs of steel and concrete. Concrete functional septa allow lifts installations.

Inside the building, all the operative space are closed by continuous, low emission, structural glasses and, to the exterior, are coating with two different kind of coat. The first one is in glulam and it’s used for the maxi battlements, the second one are concrete baskets that host some plant essences able to made a green wall on the glass façade. The maxi battlements remembers the old city walls and are now used like a locations for the vertical path or for a angular/terminal sign of the walls. The concrete baskets remembers the old rock blocks of the perimeter walls and are used to mean the victory of the nature on our walls, on our story, on our cultures and arts.

Where sanitary spaces overlooking to the external, the space is content by modular brick blocks walls and is coated with a fourteen centimeters insulating layer

The new building are inspired by the conviction of having to implement countermeasures aimed at limitation of emissions resulting from the consumption of non-renewable energy sources, the move towards sustainable construction and not least the prospect of lower operating costs in living the building. They have: passive mitigation systems of outdoor temperature represented by the succession of empty and full architectural, creating ample shade in the factory, capable of triggering natural convection around buildings; thermal-acoustic insulation materials outer coat encompassing portions of the building posed until the bottom share; limiting the "energy waste" plant systems  and still fed by energy sources resulting from cogeneration systems, sustainable alternatives to traditional sources; generally speaking the design principles by which it was assumed to proceed in engineering field concern the design of heating systems, water and electricity aimed at environmental sustainability and eco-friendliness.

The electric energy supply will be through the traditional connection to the electrical energy network and through the production of energy on the site obtained from the placement of photovoltaic panels on the roof consequent study of the electric energy needs of the new body building, defining the area of photovoltaic panels necessary to achieve the situation of self-sustaining limit.

Consistent with the technical choices from which flows the project design, even the air conditioning system is aimed at environmental sustainability and eco-compatibility. A system in radiant ceiling panels can be used both in cold seasons that in the hot season, will be able to lead to situations of comfort for irradiation of the internal surfaces with which our epidermis exchanges heat. The passage of low temperature hot water, or cold water, in pipework in the false ceiling of plasterboard panels allows to control in the long period the temperature of the interior space the building envelope. The procurement of hot water will be guaranteed by a heating system employing a heat pump capable of generating hot water and / or dissipate heat in the summer season through the principle of "free cooling". The heat pump can be of the "air / air" or "air / water" making full use of the resources that the operating site offers.

To complete the supplied primary plant of the building provides for the adoption of a controlled mechanical ventilation system with heat exchanger high "c.o.p" able to properly ventilate all rooms. The adoption of a heat exchanger allow to recover considerable part of the transported air vitiated outgoing heat to pre-heat the air "clean" input. In doing so, the energy losses will be limited considerably and consequently the "job" to be performed to switch from the external environmental temperature than that of internal exercise. A series of pipes, hidden in the false ceiling of the distributional and appurtenant spaces, will allow you to enter / eject the correct volume of air ensuring the supply of "clean air" inside the building.

The realization of Suncheon Art Platform will result in the waterproofing of a large surface area, capable of picking up the weather rainfall during the year. The project plans to use this resource for feeding a secondary water system to be used to facilitate the evacuation of waste water, for the irrigation of green spaces, or for the feeding of the water games present in the site. For this reason, in decentralized areas than the areas frequented by the users of the facility, will be built / cutlery underground tanks can hold as much water as possible consistent with the emerging need for a thorough study of the building's needs. The excess water will be conveyed through the ducts and into elemental "too full" system to existing sewerage network, thus allowing the system to act, also, as "first rain basin", aimed at reducing the release of large contemporary water volumes within existing pipelines even if the reduced flow