Gyeongju, South Korea | Type: Competition | Size: 120,000 sf | Year: 2025
[A City Embracing History, Envisioning the Future]
The history of Gyeongju is the history of Korea. It was the capital of the Silla Kingdom, which first unified the Korean Peninsula and - as a central hub of the ancient Silk Road - actively exchanged with the world before blossoming into a city of cultural significance. Today, Gyeongju simultaneously seeks to reaffirm its identity as a “historic and cultural city” by elevating the legacy of Silla, while also unlocking its infinite, future potential.
Further to this, by presenting change, innovation, and bold challenges as its new municipal vision, the city expresses its determination to become a “future-oriented city.”
Inspired by these insights, our proposal wishes to connect the legacy of Gyeongu’s past with both the present and future through the playful reinterpretation or contemporization of ‘Gokseon’. This philosophy, which is beautifully expressed via the gently curving eaves of the Bulguksa Temple, the semicircular space of the Seokguram Grotto, the earthen mounds of Daereungwon or the soft shorelines of the Anapji Pond, was a defining characteristic of Silla’s rich architectural/cultural vernacular.
As such, the gentle curving lines associated with this philosophy (i.e., Gokseon) inspired both the overall massing of our proposal, as well as, provides a conceptual narrative with respect to the passage and continuity of time; from the historic archetypes of the past (curve), to the organic spatial experience of the present (flow) to the intellectual promise of the future (expansion).
These conceptual drivers – curve, flow and expansion – manifest through the provision of spatially rich and layered spaces, while also promising to create both a landmark and a new type of library that connects past knowledge with future thought. Lastly, our proposal conceives a library, not as a static reservoir of culture, but rather as conduit of knowledge that continues to expand and adapt to change.