Hoam Art Hall to be turned into concert hall for classical music
Published: 17 Nov. 2023, 12:56
The seating capacity of the midsized art hall will be doubled to accommodate 1,200 concertgoers.
It will be Seoul's first concert hall specialized for classical music above the Han River. Below the river, there are two classical music exclusive concert halls – Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District and Lotte Concert Hall in Songpa District.
Sejong Art Center is a multipurpose performance art center where not only classical music but also other types of performances, including musicals.
A large urban park will also be built in front of the concert hall.
The goal is to build a landmark in downtown Seoul's Seosumun area where Seoulites and visitors could enjoy culture and leisure.
The Seoul city government on Thursday approved a major restructuring plan for the Seosomunro area.
The Hoam Art Hall, built in 1985, is located within a building situated between Seosomun Park and City Hall Station.
Hoam is the late Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull's pen name. Samsung Electronics Executive Chair Lee Jae-yong is his grandson.
The building was also once the headquarters of the media conglomerate, the JoongAng Group.
Samsung Life Insurance, which owns the art hall, has stopped renting out the space since 2017.
One of the Seoul city government's key development strategies is to expand the city's green ecology.
The city government's redevelopment plan is to turn 51.4 percent or 8,388.8 square meters of land around the art hall into a park.
In exchange, the city government has allowed the building to rise higher by approving a 1,040.2 percent floor-to-area ratio.
The city estimated that with the new park development, the green open space in the area, including sidewalks, would be expanded from 8,010 square meters to 13,205 square meters.
This is equivalent to that of the Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall at 13,207 square meters.
In a statement, the city government noted that the art hall is 30 years old and the area, being isolated with an outdoor parking lot that had cut off connections with its surrounding areas, needed a major overhaul.
The city added that it expects the area to become a new space where work and cultural experiences coexist, and the large-scale garden and classical concert hall are accessible to anyone.
BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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