'Busan Cinema Center', Home of the Busan International Film Festival, Officially
Opened
The Busan Cinema Center in Busan, Korea, is on a par with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the
Opera House in Sydney, Australia. As the main theater of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Busan
Cinema Center was opened on September 29th in the Centum City area of U-Dong, Haeundae-Gu, three years after
the groundbreaking ceremony was held in October, 2008. The 9-story Busan Cinema Center was built on a 54,335
square meter plot at a cost of 162.4 billion Korean won. It comprises the main building, known as the 'Cine Mountain',
with its multi-purpose performance art center and three multiplex theaters, as well as the 'BIFF Hill' with the BIFF
Executive Office and media center, and the 'Double Cone' with its amusement facilities. The BIFF Double Cone
serves as the central pillar supporting the Big Roof, which is the most striking feature of the Busan Cinema Center.
The Busan Cinema Center (Photo: Business Wire)
The construction of Busan Cinema Center, the only deconstructivist-style building in Korea, was first proposed by
Austria's Coop Himmelblau (founded by Wolf D. Prix) and was selected through an international architecture
competition in 1995. The building's most notable feature is the asymmetrical arrangement of the 10,106? big roof
(163m high x 62m wide) and the outdoor theater's smaller roof (65.8m high x 99.2-120m wide). The big roof, which
weighs as much as 4000 tons, is suspended by a cantilever support beam in the shape of two interlocking ice-cream
cones, and this gives an optical illusory effect of floating in zero gravity.
The LED ceiling light panels can create diverse images. 42,600 separate red, green, and blue colored lights are
mounted on the ceiling. The BCC will thus become a landmark building in Busan, providing outstanding lighting
effects and fantastic nightscapes.
Coinciding with the opening of the Busan Cinema Center, the 16th BIFF, Asia's largest film festival, will commence on
October 6th at the Busan Cinema Center and last for 9 days until the 14th. This year, 307 films from 70 different
countries will be screened, including Director Song Il-kwon's 'Always' as the festival's Opening Film.
Some 89 films will have their world premieres at the 16th BIFF, while another 46 films will have their international
premieres.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50020232&lang=en
Designing a Roof That Flies
By Lina Yoon
Zuma Press
The Busan International Film Festival got a new cinema center this year, designed by architecture firm Coop
Himmelb(l)au. View photos
While filmgoers come to the Busan Film Festival for the movies, Wolf D. Prix wants them talking
about the movie theater when they leave.
The 68-year-old Austrian architect, who co-founded Coop Himmelb(l)au in 1968, designed the
Busan Cinema Center, which hosts the festival this week. Coop Himmelb(l)au, based in Vienna, is
known for its modern, angular structures and projects such as the BMW Welt Museum in Munich.
Mr. Prix spoke with The Wall Street Journal about the ideas behind Busan’s striking cineplex, the
exploration of new boundaries and flying roofs. The interview has been edited.
What are the ideas behind Busan Cinema Center’s design?
We wanted to create a landmark, not only for the city, but also for the festival: something
memorable and visible. We created a building with a theater for 1,000 people, one for 400 people
and two theaters for 200 people, and an open area that has 4,000 seats. The open area has an
expressionist roof reclined in one side, which is all covered with LEDs to show projections. If you
see it, you won’t forget it. The aim was to create something that people would talk about in the city.
People should have to say “I saw a great movie, but it wasn’t the movie, it was the place.”
What experience do you want filmgoers to have?
We proposed the LED projection in the roof, so that visitors can have a horizontal experience on
top of the vertical one from the normal screen, as if they were in a 3-D movie. I can imagine the
building having an impact on movie directors as well. They will make something more —
something that maybe expands to the ceiling.
What elements did you have in mind for the design?
We had dynamism of space in mind and wanted to build a roof without columns, a spatial
sequence of open and closed areas for the public. The ceiling has no columns, and it feels almost
like a flying roof. With 95 meters, it is the biggest cantilevered roof in the world. It is a reinterpretation of the role of the roof as something else rather than just an element of protection —
it is also an element that shapes the space. At the Busan Cinema Center, the roof is also a
horizontal screen.
How did you come up with the design?
Our offices work trying to find new interpretations of public space and dynamic flows between
open and closed spaces. Three years ago, we designed a building in Munich, the BMW Welt, where
we first worked in the concept of the flying roof. This project is a development of that first idea,
but technically more sophisticated. This roof has only one column, while BMW Welt had 11.
What were the challenges you faced with the project?
Here, it is different from Europe. We had to learn the different ways in which local designers,
architects and building companies work. Also, because of the complexity of the project, we had to
develop all the details [in Europe], handled with 3-D computer programs, and send them finished
to our local partners. We have to train our staff for years to use those complex programs.
How did you get the project?
We were invited to participate in an international architecture competition of seven architects,
and we won. I think the project is a perfect fit for us. I like the city’s motto, “Dynamic Busan,” and
its combination with the festival. We want to contribute to the city’s dynamism, and we like to be
part in the creation of the 3-D movie environment, helping people go beyond boundaries.
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Architecture,
Busan,
Coop Himmelb(l)au,
Design,
Film,
South Korea,
Wolf D. Prix