Sorol Art Museum: balanced between nature and culture

Inspired by traditional local architecture, Meier Partners designed the Sorol Art Museum, in Gangneung, South Korea, around a central courtyard in a project intended to establish continuity between indoors and outdoors.

Sorol Art Museum: spaces in movement

The design team’s intentions were clear from the initial concept sketches through to the overall site plan, where the goal to connect the building to its surroundings informed design choices that integrate the natural landscape with the interiors and exhibition spaces. Circulation routes, for example, follow a T-shape to create transparent and dynamic connections between the three main volumes of the museum.

Movement across the different levels and spaces animates the Euclidean composition through an interplay of ramps that, driven by a kind of centrifugal force, project outwards to then reconnect at the hub of the central courtyard. This dynamic repeats more subtly near the other vertical connections, including outdoor and glazed pathways.

Large windows and expansive vistas throughout the circulation spaces maximize natural light and further strengthen the connection with outdoors. As design partner-in-charge Dukho Yeon explains, “The design vision was to create a modest but lyrical composition incised into this spectacular landscape that would become the perfect backdrop for art.”

Contrasting with the uninterrupted flow of the extensive circulation spaces, the three exhibition galleries are separate from each other but “remain connected along a path of framed views, filled with abundant natural light,” says associate principal Guillermo Murcia.

A dialogue between art, architecture, and nature

The galleries have a more introverted character, with shading devices modulating the diffusion of natural light. They are versatile spaces, designed for exhibiting a range of artforms.

The main gallery has several modestly sized windows strategically positioned to frame views of the park while retaining large wall spaces for exhibits. Sharon Oh, project architect and manager, comments on the “harmonious blend of art, architecture, and nature” that informs the organization of the space.

This is the first project built under the name Meier Partners. On its opening day, February 14, 2024, the museum hosted the exhibition Spatial Concept, featuring works by Lucio Fontana presented in dialogue with the Korean artist Quac Insik. More recently, Moments of Perfection featured works by Agnes Martin and Korean artist Chung Sang-Hwa. Marking the Canadian-born American artist’s first exhibition in Korea, her works reveal a pursuit of pure abstraction deeply influenced by Zen Buddhism and Taoism.

The museum’s exhibition program is intended to create a dialogue with its overall design vision, which, as the design team explains, was inspired by Korea's Confucian heritage and its philosophy of art – a vision expressed through a simplicity of form, materials, and composition that fosters a harmonious relationship with nature.

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