Nam June Paik Museum

Competition 2003
; semifinalist
(with Daniel Schuetz and Maik Seidel)

"The medium is the medium" (NJP), and the architecture is the architecture.

The task of the competition was to propose a museum for the display of the work of the Korean video-artist Nam June Paik in Suwon, Korea. It raised the question about the relation between architecture and electronic art.

The proposal is based on certain principles and characteristics of the artists medium, the TV which are translated into tectonic conditions and spatial experiences; the building reacts to the given site like TV relates to reality: as a filtered and transformed reproduction.

An cube internalizes both the surrounding city and landscape and reproduces them in the language of architecture: In plan, the museum is a city; galleries, administration and all the other functions inhabit the individual houses of this city; in section, the museum is a landscape. The topography of this landscape is the circulation of the museum. It consists of ramps and terraces. The display of the artworks of Nam June Paik requires various kinds of gallery spaces. They vary in size, shape, and lighting, and are all designed for the presentation of specific pieces of the collection.

http://njpmuseum.cric.or.kr/prizedtl/A5003_p1.htm

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.