A sculptural new presence in Seoul
The photography SEoul Museum of Art provides a new cultural presence in Dobong-GU, a district of northeastern Seoul This gradually sees the introduction of contemporary landmarks Robot and AI Museum From the Turkish studio Melike Altiisik Architects (MAA).
Designed in cooperation by the Austrian company Jadric architecture and Korean Studio 1990uao Architects, the newly completed museum over six levels – four above the earth, two below – of a total of 7,048 square meters. With its broad concrete surfaces and the filtered light, the building in its area feels anchored, while it is gestured on the developing identity of Korean photography.
His architectural framework compensates for self -observation with openness. The architects treated them museum Like a container for light, the clean circulation, the reserved materiality and soft transitions between the levels emphasize. Inner zones are interrupted by cavities that offer moments of break and reorientation. Light fountains and controlled openings shift with the time of day and form the atmosphere in which visitors come across the growing collection of the museum. See the previous reporting of design boom Here!
Pictures of Yoon Joonhwan, with the kind permission of Photosema. © Photosem
Two opening exhibitions
The photography Seoul Museum of Art of Jadric architecture And 1990uao architects opens as Korea's first public facility that is only devoted to the photographic medium. Operated as a branch of the Seoul Museum of Art (Sema)The project extends the cultural range of SEMA and creates an independent curatorial mission. The first exhibitions – The Radiance: Beginnings of Korean art photography and storage history – mark the public debut of the museum, both as an architecture and as an archive.
In The Radiance: Beginnings of Korean art photography, the Museum presents groundbreaking works by Jung Haechang, Lim Suk Je, Lee Hyungrok, Cho Hyundu and Park Youngook. The exhibition comes from a collection that now includes over 20,000 works and archive material from the 1920s to 1990s. These early parts are installed with a feeling of spatial awe, which emphasizes the relationship between image and context and at the same time enables space for your own interpretation of the historical changes of the medium.
In contrast, the camp history includes the new museum both as a subject and as a location. The six artists – Dongsin SEO, Won Seoung Won, Jihyun Jung, Joo Yongseong, Melmel Chung and Oh Joooyoung – use photography to think about the formation of the institution. Her works explore the idea of a museum as a lively organism: one that is characterized by classification systems, memory and projection. The interaction of art and architecture in this context becomes particularly resonant, with each piece react directly to the spatial language of the building.
The Photography Seoul Museum of Art brings a cultural landmark of Dobong-Gu, Seoul, a cultural landmark
Architecture shaped by light and lens
The Photography Seoul Museum of Art is designed exactly on the conditions that shape the photographic experience. Galleries are proportioned to assign changing media from silver gelatine prints to video-based installations, while archive areas are hidden and are still essential. This provided the infrastructure for long -term research and preservation. The result is an architecture that feels both intentionally and flexible, which are suitable for the double identity of the museum as an exhibition center and as an academic archive.
The project sets an ambitious institutional vision. The museum is positioned beyond its exhibitions to promote the dialogue between artists, curators and researchers. The programming includes regular discussions, workshops and events that extend until the summer season and strengthen their role as a dynamic cultural anchor for the region. By continuing commitment to the history and future of the medium, the museum hopes to expand the public's understanding of photographic art.
While the efforts of the museum are deeply grounded in the context of Korean photography. As General Director Choi Eunju states, the project complements the other satellite institutions from SEMA and aims to position Seoul as a critical knot in the contemporary photo scene of Asia.
Jadric Architecture and 1990uao Architects design a slightly filled Museum of Photography
The interior of the museum is shaped by natural light and spatial silence
Installation views, Storage story, Photography Seoul Museum of Art, May 29 – October 12, 2025. Photos according to Image Zoom, with the kind permission of Sema