AR Awards for Emerging Architecture	Commended	December 2007
UNSANGDONG ARCHITECTS	Gallery	Seoul, Korea
Originally founded in the late ’70s, Gallery Yeh has established itself as one of Korea’s leading private galleries of contemporary art. Each year it holds eight or nine exhibitions of fine art, sculpture, printmaking and installations, focusing on both Korean and international artists. The gallery needed larger premises to conduct its expanding operations and the young practice of Unsangdong was commissioned to design a striking new building in downtown Seoul. Still in their early 30s, Unsangdong principals Jang Yoon Gyoo and Hoon Shin Chang studied in Korea and served apprenticeships with Korean firms, yet both are acutely aware of and responsive to the growing globalisation of architecture. Their new gallery is an assured piece of urban sculpture that clearly reflects wider international influences and brings a sense of verve to Seoul’s tatty cityscape. The skin of the seven-storey tower is treated almost like a piece of fabric, draped and folded over the tall volume. Five broad vertical bands of concrete are warped and cut to reveal shards of glazing that admit light indirectly into the gallery spaces within. The space between the tough outer skin of concrete and the more delicate inner glazing is cleverly exploited to form a series of balconies and terraces. Interiors are treated as simple, neutral backdrops for the changing displays of art. The jury was impressed by the strength of the design concept and its confident execution. Sharply synthesising a range of influences, Gallery Yeh makes a powerful statement in a dislocated urban milieu. C.S. Architect Unsangdong Architects Cooperation, Seoul Photographs Kim Yong Kwan Email usdspace1@hanmail.net