Asia Culture Center

Character

At ground level, the Asia Culture Center can look surprisingly open for an institution of its size. The former Jeollanam-do Provincial Office and Democracy Plaza occupy the center of the site; most of the newer cultural complex spreads below them

That arrangement came from the history of the ground itself. The old provincial offices and plaza were central sites during the May 18 Democratic Uprising, so the new national cultural project had to accommodate a place already carrying political and civic meaning

The result is visible architecture, even when the buildings are hidden. Roof gardens cover much of the new construction. Courtyards and light wells cut through the landscape, bringing daylight into galleries, theaters, research rooms and children’s spaces below

The experience

The unusual pleasure of ACC is moving between civic space and institution without a monumental front door dominating the site. From the plaza, paths cross landscaped roofs and descend into a network of cultural spaces whose scale becomes clear gradually

Below ground, the complex supports exhibitions, performances, archives, research, creative production and children’s programs. These functions occupy distinct areas, but the shared circulation and daylight openings keep the campus from feeling like a buried bunker

The preserved provincial-office buildings provide the strongest orientation point. Returning to the surface brings the visitor back to the political history that shaped the entire design, so the old buildings and new cultural program remain physically connected throughout the visit

History

The former Jeollanam-do Provincial Office and surrounding plaza became central sites during the May 18 Democratic Uprising in 1980. When Gwangju later planned a major national cultural complex here, preservation of that historic ground became one of the project’s defining constraints

Kyu Sung Woo Architects won the international design competition in 2005 with the “Forest of Light” scheme. Around 90 percent of the major new buildings were placed underground, leaving the historic structures visible and turning the roofs above the new program into public landscape

The Asian Cultural Hub City plan was finalized in 2007. Construction ran from 2008 to 2014, and the Asia Culture Center officially opened on 25 November 2015 as a national institution for exhibitions, performance, research and cultural production

Before you go

The preserved provincial offices and Democracy Plaza are the key to understanding the rest of the campus. Seeing that ground first makes the underground architecture easier to read: the roof gardens and light wells exist in their present form because the new institution had to grow around a historic civic site

Culture Complex Station opens directly beside ACC. The campus is large enough to support several kinds of visit, so a performance ticket, a particular exhibition or the May 18 site can each serve as a natural starting point