ARCHITECTURE
Centre Pompidou Hanwha is an ambitious cultural project that opens a new era in artistic cooperation between France and the Republic of Korea. Born of a partnership between the Hanwha Foundation and the Centre Pompidou, this Korean branch stands at the foot of the 63 Building — an emblematic skyscraper and the headquarters of the Hanwha Group — on Yeouido Island, in the heart of Seoul's financial district.
Known for its bold architecture and its collections of modern and contemporary art, the Centre Pompidou has for several years been developing annexes in France and abroad, in order to broaden its cultural mission, share its collections more widely, and strengthen its role as a major actor in artistic cooperation and creation worldwide. All of these annexes — permanent, temporary or international — answer to the same intention: to move beyond the boundaries of the Paris site to reach a wider public, to explore new urban and cultural contexts, and to renew the way modern and contemporary art is presented.
The ambitions of Centre Pompidou Hanwha are twofold: to present major exhibitions drawn from the collections of the Centre Pompidou, while taking an active part in artistic education and in the development of young Korean creation. It promises to become a crossroads where innovation, education and art meet, combining European artistic heritage with the creative energy of Korea.
To host this new institution, Hanwha commissioned the French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte to renovate a 12,000 m² site at the foot of the 63 Building, on the bank of the Han River. The architectural intervention concentrated on the wide spaces of the tower's podium, which unfold across five levels and run the full 150-metre width of the site. These existing spaces, which housed numerous rooms for conferences, exhibitions, weddings and corporate events, have been transformed into a new cultural setting where light, art and architecture establish a fresh dialogue with the city. It is an architecture of subtraction, carving into the existing steel structure to accommodate flexible exhibition spaces able to receive works of modern and contemporary art in all their diversity.
In contrast with the verticality of the 63 Building, Centre Pompidou Hanwha extends as a horizontal line of light that wraps around the existing building. It appears as a great box of light — a translucent volume, white and pared down — whose fluted skin echoes traditional Korean roof tiles. Its double-skin façade is clad in large modules of curved, translucent laminated glass running the height of a storey; on the second and third levels its unity is locally interrupted by two transparent bays that bring daylight into the Centre's office spaces. This undulating skin envelops the base of the 63 Building like morning mist, creating a soft and calm urban environment. Backlit at night, the façade becomes a beacon and gives a strong identity to this major new cultural venue.
INTERIOR
The interior design of Centre Pompidou Hanwha carries on the rhythm set in motion by the façade. Grey limestone and light grey terrazzo form the framework of the building and shape the interior spaces. Over this structure, curved translucent glass unfolds in fluid waves along the circulation routes. The treatment of light and the continuous flooring give the whole its fluidity and reinforce the unity of the space.
The purity and restraint of the materials make this interior an exceptional place for exhibition while offering a setting suited to contemplation, meditation and exchange. The treatment of light suggests and transforms the different sequences of the project, heightening the space as a continuous narrative. The rigour of symmetrical composition and the sense of proportion that are Jean-Michel Wilmotte's signature are evident in every detail, bringing stability and subtle tension into harmonious balance.
Centre Pompidou Hanwha is not only a place of exhibition but a crossroads where education and art meet. It offers flexible spaces able to host a wide diversity of activities. The flexibility, clarity and sober elegance characteristic of Wilmotte reveal themselves naturally through these varied spaces and programmes. The balanced treatment of textures, colours and materials accompanies each function of the project: the warmth of wood, the precision of metal and the depth of stone reveal a serene beauty over time. In this way the boundaries between interior and exterior, function and aesthetics, education and art dissolve, offering the visitor an immersive and evolving experience.
