Whanki Museum (Single Building)

The Single Building series are destined to be highly collectible books each focusing on an important contemporary single building. The projects are selected for their unique character, innovative design, or technical genius, and range in building type from small residences to expansive museums. Each book acts as a journal documenting the life of the building from design concept to finished structure including photographs, drawings, details, and text from designer and client.

Single Building: Whanki Museum—The Whanki Museum, in Seoul, Korea, is a museum that pays tribute to the contemporary Korean painter, Kim Whanki. Commissioned by the Whanki Foundation, the Cambridge, MA architect, Kyu Sung Woo was chosen because of his friendship with Whanki and his respect for his art. Carefully sited to explore the themes of moon, mountains, clouds, rocks, and trees found so often in Whanki’s art, it is located in a ravine in a residential area in Seoul, faces Mount Pukasan to the south and Mound Inwangsan to the west. It is this integration between nature and artwork that makes the spectacular museum so significant. This and more is shown in this beautiful volume.