Archives are by nature secretive with restricted access only to experts and researchers. The documents they preserve are sometimes priceless and therefore the restrictionto public is very limited. The challenge for the new Seoul Metropolitan Archive is to explore the limits of document’s exposure and try to bring public programs in the very heart of the building.
To accomplish it the building organizes itself in two restricted areas separated by a public band. These public programs penetrate in both the archive and the handling area to the extent where documents remain secured. Each public program relates differently with the secured documentation; from a complete separation to a visual connection through a glass, or sometimes, to a direct walking access.
The space where documents are stored is distributed in three massive concrete boxes floating over the public program. These public areas are solved with a lighter materiality emphasizing openness and community.
