Galleria Department Store, Gwanggyo
Architect: OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Year: 2020
Location: Gwanggyo, South Korea
Category: Commercial / Office / Shopping center
Status: Unbuilt
About
Founded in the 1970s, the Galleria is Korea’s first and largest upscale department store franchise, and has remained at the forefront of the premium retail market in the country since then. Located at the center of this young urban development surrounded by tall residential towers, the Galleria’s stone-like appearance makes it a natural point of gravity for public life in Gwanggyo. The store is located between the Suwon Gwanggyo Lake Park and ubiquitous buildings in the city: an intersection between nature and the urban environment. The store has a textured mosaic stone facade that evokes nature of the neighboring park. Appearing as a sculpted stone emerging from the ground, the store is a visual anchor in the city. The monolithic character of the facade and its opacity is altered by a sequence of cascading terraces that, clad with a multifaceted glass skin facade that contrasts with the opacity of the stone, form a public loop that offers spaces for exhibitions and performances. Through the glass, retail and cultural activities inside are revealed to the city’s passersby, while visitors in the interior acquire new vantage points to experience Gwanggyo.