Amsterdam, The Netherlands – In a nail-biting online jury deliberation on July 19, 2021, UNStudio and DA Group’s proposal for the Chungnam Art Museum was selected as the overall winning design.

The initial proposals (by UNStudio, BIG, Steven Holl, Snohetta, Grafton and ALA) were first whittled down to three, then two finalists, before the winning design was finally announced.

The winning consortium comprises design partners UNStudio and DA Group, Squint/Opera (digital content and exhibition design), Loos van Vliet (landscape design) and UNSense (community content).

NStudio and DA Group’s design for the Chungnam Art Museum goes far beyond a traditional art museum. It is a fully immersive cultural and social experience for the whole community; a living, breathing space that will grow and change over time. The museum is designed as a place of inspiration, participation and contribution – to both art and the community. It also aims to become one of the first Zero-Energy museums in Korea.

The Chungnam Art Museum will provide a new form of interactive engagement between art and the public. It does this by turning the museum inside out, bringing in the city and community of Chungnam to create a diverse and vibrant cultural experience. For the future of the museum, we see the opportunity to create vibrant and interactive spaces through which art and technology can be experienced in new ways.

The Chungnam Art Museum will be a marketplace for culture that embraces flexibility and the concept of ‘art for all’. It will ultimately be a place for the community, now and for the future.         

Ben van Berkel: “Art has the power to bring people together. It inspires, it teaches and it fosters communities. The Chungnam Art Museum will be a place for people to experience this…and much more.”