capturing the rhythm of light

How can architecture combine industry and art? Park1538 Gwangyang is a new cultural and educational facility by POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks in South Korea that presents a case study.

- Text by Luo Jingmei Photography by Sergio Pirrone

Steel manufacturing and artistic culture vary vastly – one is grit and industry; the other cerebral and abstract – but they are both intrinsically about production and contribute to the mechanisms of humanity and humankind. The two come together in Park1538 Gwangyang, a project sited within the industrial grounds of POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks. The South Korean multinational company is one of the world's largest integrated steel plants, producing for the construction, automotive, shipbuilding, energy and consumer goods industries.

"The goal was to transform the Gwangyang site into a destination where visitors can engage with the history, technology and social impact of steel, while also experiencing art, exhibitions and landscape design," shares the design team of Unsangdong Architects, helmed by Yoongyoo Jang and Changhoon Shin and that was engaged to design Park 1538 Gwangyang. The cultural and educational facility showcases POSCO's steel production to the public, and was designed together with POSCO A&C.