Layered in Time: Piknic 2020 Cultural Centre in Seoul by Indiesalon.

Indiesalon has transformed a 1990s red brick building into a multicultural space in Seoul. Perched at the foot of the Namsan Mountain, the former Goshiwon (student housing) is now the Piknic 2020 Cultural Centre, a layered complex consisting of a cinema room, cafe, restaurant and design shop.

The outer facade blends the original building bricks, coloured by the years with new trendy and diverse materials and finishes, from coloured concrete and tiles to painted metal, coating each floor with a new contemporary terracotta shade. The red tone unites the patchwork of finishes, offering an immediate and intense impression to visitors, serving as new identity for the building.

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Indiesalon experimenting with the just-right reddish tone in coloured concrete.

With five levels, Piknic stands as an assemblage of mix-matched structures with a partially buried first floor, a second floor going up the outer stairs, a third floor facing the retaining wall, a fourth-floor meeting the ground level of the next land, and a rooftop with an open view.

The first two floors are dedicated to a restaurant and cafe, on the third floor is a picnic sub-art space, an editing shop sits on the fourth, and up top is the rooftop with sweeping views of the surrounding city, accessed by a distinct terracotta coloured spiral staircase. Each level not only maintains the identity of a building in harmony but also gathers the facilities in the core to perform the basic functions of the building well.

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On the ground floor, full-height windows connect inside and outside and offer a more welcoming presence to the original narrow staircase. In the picnic sub-art space, a vaulted ceiling, light palette and dry vegetation create an airy and tranquil retreat. Indiesalon improved accessibility by expanding the width of door frames and with the addition of the outer stairwell.

In this layered renovation, Indiesalon absorbed the inheritance of the past and upcycled it into a contemporary space with plenty to offer.

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[Images courtesy of Indiesalon. Photography by Donggyu Kim.]