Press Release
Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility by Unsangdong Architects and Posco A&C Receives the Platinum A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Unsangdong Architects and Posco A&C for architecture, building and structure design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility by Unsangdong Architects and Posco A&C, designed for Posco, has been granted the Platinum A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Platinum A' Design Award Explained
The Platinum A' Design Award is recognized for honoring designs that stand at the forefront of creativity and innovation. It is the highest accolade bestowed by the A' Design Awards, acknowledging works that blend remarkable innovation with impactful societal contributions. These designs not only showcase exceptional artistic and technical proficiency but also highlight their creators' commitment to advancing the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Recipients of this award are celebrated for their role in shaping the aesthetics and trends of our time, contributing significantly to the enhancement of quality of life and promoting sustainable development.
About Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility
Park1538 is located in a city with a long history of steel. The project turns this industrial past into a cultural place open to the public and introduces visitors to the material, the process, and the history of making steel. Steel is often seen as heavy and rigid, but this project shows another side of the material by expressing flexibility through form and space. A cantilever hall creates an open plaza below, while vertical ribs guide visitors through layered spaces and link the different levels of the building.
About Unsangdong Architects and Posco A&C
UnSangDong Architects is the experimental group organized to realize conceptual architecture with variable possibilities of cultural contents. The main research and project of Unsangdong Architects is based on the diversity of architecture. In 2007, Unsangdong Architects received AR Awards from "Architectural Review" which is world-famous architectural award. UnSangDong Architects reveived Vanguard Award from Architectural Record that is awarded to innovative architects in the word in 2006. As the first lecturer amongst the Korean architects. Also Unsangdong Architects gave a lecture for RIBA in 2008.
Award Record
Unsangdong Architects and Posco A&C is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards span the editions from 2018 - 2019 to 2025 - 2026 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://designers.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/182064
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182064
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182064
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/239189
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://usdspace.com/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Park1538 Gwangyang Cultural Facility
- Function
- Cultural Facility
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Dim Gray, Dark Slate Gray, Light Steel Blue, Black and Slate Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Posco
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Unsangdong Architects and Posco A&C
- Country
- Republic of Korea
- Recognition
- Platinum A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182064
Credits
- Team
- Unsangdong Architects, POSCO A&C, Yoongyoo Jang, Changhoon Shin, Mijung Kim, Dongkeun Kim, Minkyun Kim, Eunsol Ko, Siyoung Lee, Nahee Kwon, Moonhwan Kim and Hee Cho and others
- Image Credits
- Photographer Sergio Pirrone, Park1538 Gwangyang, 2025 Video Credits: Sergio Pirrone
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Located in a city shaped by steel production, Park1538 transforms industrial identity into cultural value. It serves as a public platform engaging visitors with the material and history of steelmaking. Steel is commonly perceived as rigid and heavy, yet the design reveals its latent flexibility, redefining it as a spatial and formal principle. A cantilevered exhibition hall creates an open plaza, while ramps and vertical ribs guide movement through layered spaces.
- Inspiration
- The design draws inspiration from the name of the city, Gwangyang, which means sunlight. Sweeping, curved surfaces reflect and refract light throughout the day, making the building a dynamic presence. The fluid geometry of the steel expresses both its weight and surprising adaptability, turning strength and flexibility into sculptural yet purposeful architecture.
- Research
- This research was site-based, focusing on a former greenhouse within Gwangyang Steelworks of POSCO, surrounded by heavy industry yet framed by the Seomjin River and Baegunsan Mountain. The objective was to transform a production-oriented site into a public cultural space. Through historical study, site analysis, and user mapping, we examined industrial heritage and environmental contrasts. The result reconnects industry, landscape, and community, turning a closed industrial ground into an open civic platform.
- Challenge
- The rib goes beyond a simple envelope. It functions simultaneously as structure, space, and finish, almost like a living organism. Therefore, even a minor change in the position or size of an interior room inevitably causes interference or conflict among the reference module, the linear finishing of the ribs, and the steel truss structure. These concerns were addressed from the early design stage through precise 3D modeling and verification simulations. Integrating the distinctive form with a rational facade system and structural stability required a highly advanced level of integrated design coordination.
- Realization and Technology
- The project was developed through structural experimentation with vertically oriented steel ribs of varying curvature and inclination, functioning simultaneously as load-bearing frames, facade elements, and spatial guides. Long spans were achieved through precise parametric coordination between structure and envelope. Circulation was conceived as a three-dimensional sequence shaped by ramps and a grand stair integrated into the structural logic. The landscape reconfigures the flat industrial ground into planted mounds, embedding former machinery as sculptural artifacts.
- Operation and Interaction
- The project operates as an open public platform where structure and circulation shape the visitor experience. Movement unfolds through ramps and vertical transitions, gradually revealing framed views of the city and industrial landscape. The cantilever creates a sheltered plaza, extending public space beneath. Steel ribs act as structure, facade, and spatial guides simultaneously, enabling long spans and flexible layouts. This integration of structure and space results in clarity, adaptability, and immersive engagement.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in September 2020 and was completed in April 2025.
- Specifications
- Building Scale: Exhibition Hall: 1 Basement Level, 4 Above-Ground Floors, Education Center: 1 Basement Level, 3 Above-Ground Floors Structure: Steel Frame, Reinforced Concrete Structure
- Keywords
- Steel Architecture, Industrial Heritage, Cultural Platform, Cantilever Structure, Structural Expression, Long-Span Structure, Industrial Regeneration, Civic Architecture
