The new museum of Gyeonggi-do Jeongok is like a link between a distant past and our present time, between the memory of prehistoric civilisations and the desire of the modern man to learn about his origins and ancestors.

The museum is built on this dual relation between past and present, history and modernity, prehistoric life and contemporary life, natural site and urban site, primitive life and its exhibition in a museum.

The museum lays down on the site like book of history where the first page is made of basalt. The next one relates to discovery and archaeology after few millennium of history. The excavation of basalt allows us to imagine and build the main room of exhibitions of the new museum of Gyeonggi-do Jeongok.

Basalt as a prehistoric material is used for the modern design of the museum, symbolizing this link between two distant eras.

The main terrace of arrivals or departures to the archaeological park is the last page of the book of history, of the modern history, of the modern sensitivity. This place is an invitation for the protection and conservation of the traces of our ancestors and the beauty of the nature.

The museum digs the ground like the archaeologist is doing when is looking for some precious parts of our past. It’s a real parallel between archaeological activity and museum activity. The site is excavated until the basalt layer and the museum becomes like this, a new space of excavations. The vertical structure of this rock relates layer by layer, like pages of a book, the story of the site, the birth of its valleys, hills, mountains and also talks about traces of first civilizations that lived in this beautiful landscape. This new space made of basalt will become the main room of exhibitions of the new prehistoric museum of Gyeonggi-do Jeongok. It will be the place for all the relics exhumed in this area.

The museum settles very discreetly and in harmony with its environment, offering to visitors from inside the museum or the terrace, different perspectives on a large part of the area.

The terrace is the horizontal continuity of the landscape, of the different walks from north to south. This museal space directs the site, from excavations to parks, gardens, hills, river, and mountains. They becomes like this parts of the museum too.

Progettazione

•Arch. Tom Kroke, Progettista

•Lorenzo Ascani, Progettista