A recent competition earlier in 2009 held by the city of Chungju in South Korea made a call for a memorial space in the city’s United Nations Peace Park. Coming in at 3rd place was London-based firm ACME with their dramatic hive-like design. Drawing from the very core of what the United Nations is, this building is comprised of individual cells combined together to form a cube structure, mirroring how the UN is made up of individual countries who come together to form one entity. ACME’s proposal also includes an idyllic green roof and plenty of natural daylight.
The structure is built from hexagonal cells on the exterior as well as throughout the interior. Built as a metaphor for how the UN operates and functions, this memorial space is meant to “represent the nature of the organization, where many different nations come together to create one entity, but without losing their individual identities.” Inside there are two conference halls, a theater, an exhibition space and an assembly hall for 1,500 people. The cellular design will also serve as a multi-function meeting space and house offices, restaurants, meeting and educational space as well as public viewing platforms.
An open staircase winds up the exterior of the building and leads all the way up to the roof, where a public garden and green roof await. Rooms, meeting space and public areas are all well lit by natural daylight. We’re quite taken with this design proposal and considering it received 3rd place, we’d love to know what the first and second place designs were.
