A Lens on Architecture: Photography Seoul Museum of Art

Introduction

The Photography Seoul Museum of Art (Photo SeMA), designed by Austrian firm Jadric Architektur with Seoul-based 1990uao, redefines museum architecture through metaphor and materiality. Located near the Han River in northern Seoul, this 7,048-square-meter building is South Korea’s first museum solely dedicated to photography. Its sculptural twisted form, made of stacked horizontal concrete panels, evokes a camera iris, creating a dynamic façade that changes with the viewer’s perspective and natural light.

Commissioned through an international competition, Photo SeMA balances contrast and harmony with its neighbor, the white, egg-shaped Seoul Robot & AI Museum. Internally, it rejects traditional “white cube” galleries in favor of monochromatic, darkroom-inspired spaces. Cultural amenities like a library, archives, education rooms, café, and bookshop make it a vibrant cultural hub.

The project thoughtfully engages its riverside urban context, emphasizing form, light, and materiality to embody photography’s transience and permanence. Photo SeMA exemplifies how architecture can narrate cultural and artistic stories beyond function.

Context & Background

Photo SeMA is built on a former riverside parking lot adjacent to Seoul’s Han River green corridor, an area undergoing cultural revitalization. The museum was commissioned following an international competition, reflecting Seoul’s growing commitment to arts infrastructure.

Sitting atop a two-level underground carpark, the four-storey building houses two major gallery halls, an archive, educational rooms, a library, and retail spaces including a bookshop and café. This diverse program positions the museum as both an exhibition space and cultural hub.

The museum’s dialogue with the adjacent Seoul Robot & AI Museum—designed by Melike Altınışık Architects—enhances its contextual relevance through contrasting materials (grey concrete vs. white shell) and geometry (cube vs. sphere), symbolizing Seoul’s embrace of technology and tradition.

Materiality & Design Language

The twisted form is achieved by horizontally stacking slender concrete panels wrapping the façade, evoking a camera iris’s rotating blades. This kinetic effect animates the surface with shifting light and shadow, reflecting photography’s ephemeral nature.

Concrete was chosen for its structural capacity and versatility, allowing delicate panelization that produces textured layers. At the base, panels step outward forming a cantilevered canopy above the glazed entrance, welcoming visitors and reinforcing the sculptural form.

Inside, the exterior folds translate into sloped, monochromatic walls reminiscent of photographic darkrooms, departing from conventional white gallery spaces. This continuity strengthens the dialogue between interior and exterior, while indirect lighting and matte surfaces optimize visual comfort.

Environmental strategies include using concrete’s thermal mass for passive climate control and concealing parking underground to maintain the building’s sculptural purity.

Interior Spaces & User Experience

Visitors enter beneath a sweeping canopy into a bright, acoustically buffered foyer framed by the twisting concrete shell. A central stair and elevator core connect gallery levels, offering views of the building’s sculptural form.

Exhibition halls span two floors with flexible layouts, soft indirect lighting, and non-reflective finishes evoking photographic development rooms. Sloping walls echo the exterior folds, reinforcing conceptual continuity.

Upper floors host archives, a library, classrooms, a bookshop, and café with subdued palettes that keep focus on the photographic artworks. Circulation aligns with the building core, facilitating intuitive navigation without detracting from spatial drama.

The interior-exterior interplay creates an intimate yet open spatial experience. Concrete’s tactile presence balances with strategic glazing that connects visitors to Seoul’s river landscape, enhancing sensory engagement.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

This article presents the Photography Seoul Museum of Art as a material and metaphor-driven architectural exploration. The façade’s layered grey concrete panels evoke a camera iris, dynamically interacting with light. While the twisting form captures photography’s transient essence, the interior’s darkroom-inspired atmosphere challenges typical gallery norms. However, the building’s relationship to its urban riverside context could be architecturally stronger. Its integration of exhibition, education, archive, and social programs models a progressive museum typology. Overall, this project contributes valuable discourse on narrative architecture through sculptural form and material expression.

Conclusion

Photography Seoul Museum of Art transcends conventional museum typologies by embodying photography’s essence through form and material. Its twisted concrete panels capture shifting light and shadow, mirroring the medium it celebrates. Over time, the building will age gracefully, deepening its connection to Seoul’s evolving cultural fabric.

This project teaches architects how metaphor and materiality can unify architectural storytelling beyond mere function. It challenges the white cube gallery model by creating immersive spatial experiences resonant with photography’s themes.

In an age often favoring architectural novelty, Photo SeMA exemplifies thoughtful design grounded in cultural discourse and material integrity. Its integrated program supports diverse cultural functions, offering a flexible typology for future museums.

Ultimately, the museum stands as a significant contribution to architectural thinking, proving buildings can be poetic without overt symbolism. It invites ongoing reflection on capturing ephemeral artistic moments within enduring sculptural form—relevant today and tomorrow.

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