INTELLIGENT BUILDING SKIN
4.1.4 GALLERIA CENTERCITY, SOUTH KOREA Architect: UNStudio Project: Galleria Centercity Location: Cheonan, South Korea Building surface: 66,700 m² Programme: Department store with multifunctional facilities Transportation: Cheonan is well connected to the capital by railway and road, with a new high speed rail link was completed just recently. The Galleria Cheonan responds to the current retail climate in Asia, where department stores also operate as social and semi-cultural meeting places. Because of this, the quality of the public spaces within the building was treated as an integral aspect of the design.
The main architectural theme for the Galleria Cheonan is that of dynamic flow. This is found both inside and outside.
Figure 32 : External facade of Galleria Centercity
The media facade will be the largest illuminated surface of its kind. The strategy for the building enclosure consists of creating an optical illusion. During the day the building has a monochrome reflective appearance, whilst at night soft colours are used to generate waves of coloured light across the large scale illuminated surface. The lighting design was developed in parallel with the architecture and capitalises on the double layered facade structure. Computer generated animations specially designed by UNStudio are incorporated into the lighting design and refer to themes related to the department store, such as fashion, events, art and public life. 30
