Tadao Ando and British sculptor Antony Gormley have collaborated on a new pavilion at Museum SAN in Wonju, South Korea. The underground concrete dome measures 25 meters in diameter and 7.2 meters in height. It is accessed by a spiral staircase and lit by a central oculus 2.4 meters wide.
The pavilion receives natural light and elements like wind, rain, and snow. It combines Ando’s architectural minimalism with Gormley’s sculptural tension. Inside, Gormley installed seven sculptures from his iconic series made of rusted iron.
The human figures are positioned in various postures along the space’s perimeter. Gormley explained the significance of the materials: “This is how the nature of iron expresses itself in relation to air. The red of iron, when exposed to oxygen, is the same red as our blood, which plays a very important role in carrying oxygen from the air to our muscles.”
Ando described the project as an evolution of his spatial poetics.
Gormley’s sculptures embrace natural elements
He decided to bury the pavilion entirely to create an invisible architecture that reactivates the relationship between body, environment, and silence. “You are confronted with the fact that there is the Earth, and that beyond it stretches blue nature.
I’m overwhelmed by the thought that this work will remain in and around Museum SAN for the next one or two hundred years,” Ando said. Museum SAN, designed by Ando and opened in 2013, stretches about 700 meters along the mountain ridge of Oak Valley in Gangwon Province. It includes exhibition galleries, gardens, a meditation hall, a print atelier, and a permanent pavilion dedicated to James Turrell.
The museum welcomes over one million visitors each year. The pavilion’s inauguration coincides with the opening of “Drawing on Space,” the most comprehensive solo exhibition ever dedicated to Gormley in Korea. The show features 48 works, including installations, sculptures, and drawings.
Pieces like Liminal Field and Orbit Field II extend the artist’s ongoing exploration of the body as a field of forces and as the emanation of a mental space. This collaborative project between Ando and Gormley represents a profound integration of art and architecture, engaging visitors in a unique perceptual experience.
