"The Galleria Cheonan responds to the current retail climate in Asia, where department stores also operate as social and semi-cultural meeting places. Because of this, the quality of the public spaces within the building was treated as an integral aspect of the design."

Ben van Berkel

Ben van Berkel, UNStudio
Galleria Centercity
Cheonan, Korea

UNStudio
UN Studio: Design Models - Architecture, Urbanism, Infrastructure
via

"...the strong horizontal cornices and decorative details of TriBeCa’s cast-iron architecture, re-formed them, and transported them onto our building in a very contemporary way that makes them truly functional but that still has a lot to do with pure surface decoration. The reflective metal bands of our building are almost sewn on, like a dress. They grow thinner and thicker, wrapping themselves around the building and generating different visual effects as they change. But they are not just graphic elements, they are three-dimensional. Sometimes these bands become balconies; other times they become sunscreens that protect the apartment interiors from excess sunlight and reflect excess heat. So they have a true function and a sustainable quality, too. These metal ribbons not only pick up the external qualities of TriBeCa through their geometries and their character as added metal elements on the surface of the structure, but they also frame the views from inside the apartments and create intimacy. We couldn’t have achieved the privacy and intimacy of the homes at Five Franklin Place if we’d made ours a fully transparent glass facade building..."