Platoon Kunsthalle GwangJu Shipping Container Art Center Stacks Up in Korea

In 2009, we brought you exciting news of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/platoon-kunstjalle-seouls-shipping-container-subculture-art-center/">this beautiful new shipping container art center</a> opening up in Seoul, and we've just discovered that it has a sister structure in Gwangju that rivals both its cool factor and creative contribution to the Korean community. Called <a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/KUNSTHALLE_GWANGJU/514114">Platoon Kunsthalle Gwangju</a>, the newer building is made up of dark grey and orange cargo containers, and houses emerging <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/art">art</a> and subculture exhibitions as well as an event hall and bar. Click through our gallery to peek inside this intriguing space.

<a href="http://blog.platoon.org/home">Platoon</a>, a rather mysterious creative consulting agency based out of Berlin and Seoul, conceived the Gwangju center as an industrial, wide open space with plenty of room to display art.

The use of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/platoon-kunstjalle-seouls-shipping-container-subculture-art-center/">shipping containers</a> arranged in a rectangle allowed them to achieve that cavernous area in the middle of the center, which opens up onto both the first and second floors giving it an even more grand feeling.

"<a href="http://www.kunsthalle-gwangju.com/">Kunsthalle Gwangju</a> is an art project itself," says Platoon of the space.

"The concept and program involves artists, visitors and the team to interact with each other. This creates new questions, interesting tensions and inspiring moments. As a social sculpture the art is created by the existence of this venue and its interaction with the people."

"It is not a white cube to display finished art pieces of international artists for mere consumption. Cultural development will be experienced by new art strategies which pose questions of contemporary life and a global society. Kunsthalle Gwangju will invite Korean, Asian and global artists to perform interaction art and develop new local aspects according to the city and citizens of Gwangju."

The center also has an outdoor recreational area.

The center opened on August 31, 2010 and installed "Tamatar,’’ a collection of 16 styrofoam balls, for their first exhibit.

A rendering of the shipping container art center before it was actually built. <!--more--><a href="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/12/platoon-kunsthalle-gwangju-6.jpg"><img src="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/12/platoon-kunsthalle-gwangju-6.jpg" alt="shipping container architecture, eco architecture, shipping container, green design, eco design, sustainable design, kunsthalle gwang ju, gwangju, platoon, prefab architecture, prefabricated, eco art" title="Platoon Kunsthalle Gwangju" width="537" height="261" class="alignright size-full wp-image-197379" /></a> <a href="http://blog.platoon.org/home">Platoon</a>, a rather mysterious creative consulting agency based out of Berlin and Seoul, conceived the Gwangju center as an industrial, wide open space with plenty of room to display art. The use of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/platoon-kunstjalle-seouls-shipping-container-subculture-art-center/">shipping containers</a> arranged in a rectangle allowed them to achieve that cavernous area in the middle of the center, which opens up onto both the first and second floors giving it an even more grand feeling. "<a href="http://www.kunsthalle-gwangju.com/">Kunsthalle Gwangju</a> is an art project itself," says Platoon of the space. "The concept and program involves artists, visitors and the team to interact with each other. This creates new questions, interesting tensions and inspiring moments. As a social sculpture the art is created by the existence of this venue and its interaction with the people. It is not a white cube to display finished art pieces of international artists for mere consumption. Cultural development will be experienced by new art strategies which pose questions of contemporary life and a global society. Kunsthalle Gwangju will invite Korean, Asian and global artists to perform interaction art and develop new local aspects according to the city and citizens of Gwangju." The center opened on August 31, 2010 and installed "Tamatar,’’ a collection of 16 styrofoam balls, for their first exhibit.