The second prize winning proposal for the Busan Opera House, designed by designcamp moonpark dmp, aims at resolving the issue of a lack of much needed public space where people can stroll and enjoy the waterfront activity. The Opera House is an opportunity to give this luxury of space, this water’s edge back to the citizens. Inspired by opera itself and its dramatic scenographies, the facility is designed to create dramatic vignettes of the harbor, the city and the mountains. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The sublime beauty of North Port, with it’s industrial hum of activity and its smells, colors and patterns have never been successfully integrated with the everyday activity of the Busan people. Infrastructure such as the railroad tracks physically isolate the water’s edge from the rest of the city. The winding waterfront is lined with the functions of the shipping industry resulting in this lack of public space.
With the Busan environment reframed through the architectural Proscenia of the new Busan Opera House, the city and the port is seen in a way as never been experienced before. On appraoch sequence, a gently ascending ramp receives the visitors entering the Entrance Niche. Framed by two monumental Proscenium windows, the ramp brings the visitor to the heart of the Opera House. One Proscenium window frames the Public Gallery above the ramp. The other Proscenium window frames the Orchestra Rehearsal space within.
The Entrance Niche marks the first room in the entrance sequence. On the ramp, the visitor ascends towards the center of the Opera House. A dramatic outdoor Rotunda de nes the termination of the ramp, the second room. A conical light sculpture accentuates the space’s verticality while spreading light with its prismatic planes of glass. The Rotunda marks the center of the Opera House where all vertical circulation is located.
As you pass through from the Rotunda towards the harbor, the opening panorama of the North Port emerges – the dramatic view towards the North Harbor. This is the moment the Opera House connects back to the landscape. The view gives the harbor and the sea back to the people of Busan.
The visitor’s journey starts from his home as he is anticipating the opera, the drama ahead of him in the evening, minding how nice he looks. That’s where the drama begins. Now, the visitor arrives at the opera! After an unbelievable encounter of North Port, the visitor arrives at the grand foyer. With the view of North Port before him, his attention quickly goes to a monumental window – the ‘Proscenium to the Sea.’
As we have the Proscenium to the stage inside the hall, we have the Proscenium to the drama of Busan’s natural beauty. In front of this magnificent vista, the floor of the foyer pushes up to form a grand and civic stair where opera goers can interact and enjoy the company of each other and the view to the harbor. Then we are in the Hall. Puccini’s La Boheme begins.
Architects: designcamp moonpark dmp Location: Busan, South Korea Design: Seunghong Park, Hokeun Oh Project Architect: Hanjae Zo, Seungcheul Han, Sehwan Park Project Manager: Jongin Park Project Team: Byounghie Lee, Hyungeun Park, Hojun Lee, Jeongwoo Jang, Jaeho Jang, Hyunsoo Kim, Jinauh Jeon, Siheon Lee, Sungwoo Moon, Eunyoung Choi, Junghyuk Seo, KyungKyo Lee Acoustics: ARUP Structural Engineer: Noori structural Eng. Mechanical Engineer: HIMEC Electricity/Telecommunication: Jung Woo Eng. & Nara Eng. Civil Engineer: Jinyoung E&C Disaster Prevention: Namdo TEC Traffic Research: Hyunsung TeRI Exterior Lighting: bitzro Interior: Min Associates CG: 201 studio Editorial Design: Godo Design Architectural Model: Daerim Date: June 2012 – October 2012
