Platinum Architecture · 2026
Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility
by Unsangdong Architects and Posco A&C
- Platinum A' Design Award 2026 in Architecture
- CLIENT: Posco
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 4,983,538
- Verification code B236F79F0F · Verify this award
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About Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility
Park1538 is located in a city with a long history of steel. The project turns this industrial past into a cultural place open to the public and introduces visitors to the material, the process, and the history of making steel. Steel is often seen as heavy and rigid, but this project shows another side of the material by expressing flexibility through form and space. A cantilever hall creates an open plaza below, while vertical ribs guide visitors through layered spaces and link the different levels of the building.
About the Platinum A' Design Award
Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility is a Platinum A' Design Award winner, an extremely prestigious recognition granted to truly exceptional, elegant, and magnificent designs. Platinum winners are marvels of creation, testaments to the limits of intellectual creativity, and demonstrate the unmatched professionalism and genius of their designers. These designs are expected to be the most renowned works that define the aesthetics of an era, contribute to the well-being of society, and push the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility exhibits a transcendent level of excellence and unequivocally makes the world a better place with its advantageous and worthwhile characteristics. Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility is a Platinum A' Design Award-winning work that triggers desires, inspires, excites, delights, and sparks great joy.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Located in a city shaped by steel production, Park1538 transforms industrial identity into cultural value. It serves as a public platform engaging visitors with the material and history of steelmaking. Steel is commonly perceived as rigid and heavy, yet the design reveals its latent flexibility, redefining it as a spatial and formal principle. A cantilevered exhibition hall creates an open plaza, while ramps and vertical ribs guide movement through layered spaces.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Building Scale: Exhibition Hall: 1 Basement Level, 4 Above-Ground Floors, Education Center: 1 Basement Level, 3 Above-Ground Floors Structure: Steel Frame, Reinforced Concrete Structure
- Tags
- Steel Architecture, Industrial Heritage, Cultural Platform, Cantilever Structure, Structural Expression, Long-Span Structure, Industrial Regeneration, Civic Architecture
- Production Technology
- The project was developed through structural experimentation with vertically oriented steel ribs of varying curvature and inclination, functioning simultaneously as load-bearing frames, facade elements, and spatial guides. Long spans were achieved through precise parametric coordination between structure and envelope. Circulation was conceived as a three-dimensional sequence shaped by ramps and a grand stair integrated into the structural logic. The landscape reconfigures the flat industrial ground into planted mounds, embedding former machinery as sculptural artifacts.
- Design Challenge
- The rib goes beyond a simple envelope. It functions simultaneously as structure, space, and finish, almost like a living organism. Therefore, even a minor change in the position or size of an interior room inevitably causes interference or conflict among the reference module, the linear finishing of the ribs, and the steel truss structure. These concerns were addressed from the early design stage through precise 3D modeling and verification simulations. Integrating the distinctive form with a rational facade system and structural stability required a highly advanced level of integrated design coordination.
- Research
- This research was site-based, focusing on a former greenhouse within Gwangyang Steelworks of POSCO, surrounded by heavy industry yet framed by the Seomjin River and Baegunsan Mountain. The objective was to transform a production-oriented site into a public cultural space. Through historical study, site analysis, and user mapping, we examined industrial heritage and environmental contrasts. The result reconnects industry, landscape, and community, turning a closed industrial ground into an open civic platform.
- Inspiration
- The design draws inspiration from the name of the city, Gwangyang, which means sunlight. Sweeping, curved surfaces reflect and refract light throughout the day, making the building a dynamic presence. The fluid geometry of the steel expresses both its weight and surprising adaptability, turning strength and flexibility into sculptural yet purposeful architecture.
- Project Duration
- The project started in September 2020 and was completed in April 2025.
- Operation Flow
- The project operates as an open public platform where structure and circulation shape the visitor experience. Movement unfolds through ramps and vertical transitions, gradually revealing framed views of the city and industrial landscape. The cantilever creates a sheltered plaza, extending public space beneath. Steel ribs act as structure, facade, and spatial guides simultaneously, enabling long spans and flexible layouts. This integration of structure and space results in clarity, adaptability, and immersive engagement.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Unsangdong Architects Cooperation, 2026
- Image Credits
- Photographer Sergio Pirrone, Park1538 Gwangyang, 2025
Video Credits: Sergio Pirrone
