SongEun building and its debut exhibition More than just an aesthetic flourish, this prominent design element also discloses an inevitable spatial constraint generated by the internal curvature of the parking ramp, circumscribing the gaping cavity excavated from the centre of the lobby. Tracing the outer perimeter of this hollow concrete corkscrew is a circular staircase that leads upwards to a second floor exhibition space. The focal point of the ground-floor lobby is a spiralling vertical layer of concrete that carves a nautilus-shaped void out of the lobby floor, opening onto a cavernous subterranean exhibition space two floors below. Practical design concerns also inform architectural decisions within the structure. It is here that the glass-covered rear façade begins its angular ascent, receding from view as it climbs towards the sharply pointed apex. As visitors pass beneath the suspended mass of the building’s cantilevered upper floors towards the main entrance, they emerge into an airy courtyard ringed by a walled garden that separates this backyard-like space from the neighbouring plots. Both corners at the bottom of the façade are cut away to create lateral recesses that serve as points of entry for pedestrians and vehicles. These precise incisions, the larger of which is more than 13m tall, accentuate the verticality of the structure while hinting at the spaces contained within. Rising from the street like a sheer cliff face nearly 60m in height, the south-facing front façade presents a continuous plane of concrete interrupted by two long, slender windows that puncture the otherwise uniform surface.

Housing the corporate HQ of ST International, a Korean energy and mining conglomerate, and its constituent SongEun Art & Cultural Foundation, which operates a nonprofit art space, this striking edifice is set to become a contemporary architectural landmark amid the Korean capital’s architecture and dense urban fabric. The 11-storey structure sits at the crest of a broad avenue in Seoul’s bustling Gangnam district, surrounded by an array of high-end fashion boutiques and flagships, including Louis Vuitton (designed by Frank Gehry), Dolce & Gabbana ( Jean Nouvel) and Dior (Christian de Portzamparc). Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron make their South Korean debut with a monolithic new office building and cultural space in Seoul that boasts a majestic triangular silhouette.

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