Casanova+Hernandez architects | A041_Jeongok Prehistory Museum

There is also a basalt cliff in the core of the hill and it is the client’s wish to incorporate it into the museum’s route as another part of the exhibition area.

The proposal is based on the potential of the new building as a new door to the entire prehistoric site, resolving the unevenness of the terrain and the potential of the basalt cliff that becomes the main element to be displayed on the ground floor.

The design strategy is based on the following steps:

1 Existing topography is clipped to show the basalt ravine towards the entrance plaza. Following this strategy, a basalt wall 91 meters long and 10 meters high is displayed as an outdoor exhibition and becomes the new façade of the prehistoric site.

2 The museum building is placed on the precipice working as a ‘canopy-building’ that protects the basalt wall, marks the entrance to the museum and protects an open space in front of the entrance.

From the upper level of the hill, the museum is not visible because it is integrated into the landscape as a large platform that has several ‘holes’ that work as artificial excavation pits, recalling those in the surrounding area.

These ‘holes’ are open-air courtyards on the museum level that display some of the collection’s objects and filter natural light into the display areas. From this level a ramp introduces the visitor to the museum area.

By using this layout, the roof of the museum becomes an ‘artificial excavation pit’.

The main entrance of the museum is located in the basalt room, an empty space of 14x14m and 10m high that receives natural light from above and that allows the visitor to fully enjoy the feeling of being inside the rock itself.

By using this design, the roof of the museum becomes an artificial excavation pit.

The main entrance of the museum is located in the basalt room, an empty space of 14x14m and 10m high that receives natural light from above and allows the visitor to fully enjoy the sensation of being inside the rock itself.

The exhibition areas are located on the upper level of the museum.

The spatial organization of the museum building is structured by the position and size of the patios that are distributed on its surface and by a structure of light walls.

The layout creates an exhibition area that is a sequence of interconnected rooms that allow great flexibility of room use, a variety of changeable and independent exhibition combinations, as well as a wide variety of exhibition paths through the rooms.

The spatial organization of the museum allows for a wide variety of room dimensions. The 8, 10 and 12-meter-wide rooms present a wide range of lengths from 5 to 30 meters long.

The display systems of the collection are very different and also allow a high degree of flexibility (patio display / floor display / wall display / column display / wall display / video-wall).

Some skylights provide natural light to the main circulation areas, thus creating, together with the patios, a homogeneous system of perforations in the roof of the building.