GALLERY SIMON

ⓒ Jaekyeong Kim

The client's request was that he could sacrifice anything for the two propositions of securing the maximum exhibition area and securing the 5m floor height of the main exhibition space. Since I had already made two spaces together, the existing gallery in front of Dosan Park and the gallery of Nature Poem, which was an antenna gallery, I started designing with a strong determination. As a result, all of them were abandoned and the main exhibition space, which was supposed to be located on the basement floor, had to be redesigned from scratch. At the end of the nearly two-year design period, the front layout and entrance of the staircase and elevator hall to maximize space were designed to be literally embedded in the parking, and all necessary spaces were hidden in very minimal and small spaces.
As soon as you enter the entrance, the elevator hall and the staircase are made of steel stairs to make it feel like an open that penetrates the entire floor. The main exhibition space on the first floor, seen through the space, is composed of the largest space that the site can have, and it is intended to clearly show that this is a gallery to those who enter. The storage space on the second floor, the second exhibition space, the curator and director's office on the third floor, and the third exhibition hall, the floor heights of each floor are markedly different depending on the need. The cafe space on the 4th floor was designed to stop the elevator on the 3rd floor to prevent it from protruding from the mass, and to be able to climb only through the stairs. However, while taking care to receive sunlight pouring in from the skylight all the way up the stairs, the street windows where you can see Mt. Bukhan and Mt. Inwang in a panoramic view are placed in all directions to maximize the sense of openness that you could not feel on the three floors below, and to the south side beyond the cafe. A large balcony space is created on the premises to provide a space where you can experience the outside air with a cool view of the city. According to the original plan, there was even an entrance from the balcony space to the rooftop space that maximizes the view of CheongWaDae and Gyeongbok Palace through circular stairs, but it is regrettable that it was canceled for various reasons.
Space is not an unreasonable form of play, but an intangible one that seems invisible but allows you to feel it with your heart, and a gallery made by an architect who firmly believes that the architect is the creator of the intangible space.

ⓒ Jaekyeong Kim

갤러리시몬
최대 전시면적 확보와 주 전시공간의 5m 층고 확보, 두 개의 목적을 위해서라면 무엇이든 희생할 수 있다는 건축주의 요청으로 시작됐다. 건축주와는 도산공원 앞에 있던 기존 갤러리와 네이처포엠의 갤러리까지 이미 두 번의 공간을 함께 만들어 봤던 터였다. 단단한 각오로 설계에 착수해서 무려 사십 개가 넘는 계획안이 땅을 파자마자 쏟아져 나온 국보급 유물들로 인해서 모두 무산되며 처음부터 새롭게 설계에 임하며 2년 가까운 기간동안 진행됐던 프로젝트다. 긴 진행 기간에 지쳐갈 무렵, 공간감을 최대한으로 살리기 위한 계단실과 엘리베이터실을 전면으로 배치하고 주차장쪽으로 입구를 내면서 필요한 모든 공간을 아주 미니멀한 공간에 숨겨놓는 듯한 배치로 건축주와 긴 협의 끝에 정할 수 있었다.
입구를 들어가자마자 마주치는 엘리베이터 홀과 계단실은 그 자체가 마치 전체 층을 관통하는 오픈스페이스다. 이런 개방된 공간감을 위해서 계단 챌판을 없앤 철재 계단으로 구성하고, 그 공간을 통해서 보이는 일층의 주 전시공간은 그 부지가 가질 수 있는 최대 면적의 공간으로 들어오는 이들로 하여금 이곳이 갤러리라는 사실을 극명하게 보여준다. 2층의 수장고와 제2전시공간, 3층의 큐레이터와 관장 사무실, 제3전시실까지 각층의 층고가 그 필요성에 따라서 극명하게 다르게 구성됐다. 4층의 카페 공간은 외부 매스에서 엘리베이터 박스가 튀어나오는 것을 방지하기 위해 엘리베이터를 3층까지만 계획하였다. 계단을 통해서만 오를 수 있게 계획하였다. 3층에서 4층의 유일한 통로인 계단실 천창에서는 쏟아지는 햇살을 받으며, 사방으로 배치된 가로창들을 통해 오르는 순간 순간 북한산과 인왕산을 파노라마로 바라볼 수 있게 했다. 이 공간은 밑의 3개층에서 느낄 수 없었던 개방감이 극대화되고, 카페 남측에 마련된 큰 발코니 공간을 통해 시내를 향해 펼쳐진 시원한 조망과 함께 외기를 접할 수 있다. 원 계획상으로는 그 발코니 공간에서 원형 계단을 통해 청와대와 경복궁 쪽 전망을 극대화하는 옥상 공간까지 출입할 수 있는 동선도 계획하였으나 여러 가지 이유로 무산된 것이 내심 아쉽다.
공간은 이유 없는 형태의 유희가 아니라 눈에 보이지 않는 듯하지만 가슴으로 느낄 수 있게 해주는 무형의 것이고, 건축가는 그 무형의 공간을 만드는 사람이라고 굳게 믿는 건축가가 그 의지와 생각으로 만든 갤러리다.

ⓒ Jaekyeong Kim

ⓒ Jaekyeong Kim

ⓒ Jaekyeong Kim

ⓒ Jaekyeong Kim

ⓒ Jaekyeong Kim

SECTION

FLOOR PLAN

Architect Archigroup MA
Location Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Program Commercial Facility
Site area 285.4㎡
Building area 166.98㎡ 
Gross floor area 569.38㎡
Building scope 4F
Building to land ratio 58.51%
Floor area ratio 199.50%
Design period 2010. 1 - 6
Construction period 2010. 6 - 2011. 2
Principal architect Byungan You
Design team Hongsup Chung, Mintaek Hwang, Younghwan Lee, Seokgon Song, Hyojeong Kim, Juwon Park
Structural engineer Hi Structural Engineers
Mechanical engineer ENG Energy Design
Electrical engineer Kukdong Munhwa Engineering Consultant
Civil engineer Topjung Engineering
Construction EAN R&C
Photographer Jaekyeong Kim

해당 프로젝트는 건축문화 2021년 7월호(Vol. 482)에 게재 되었습니다.
The project was published in the July, 2021 issue of the magazine(Vol. 482).

July 2021 : vol. 482