[Yonhap News] (LEAD) S. Korean wood museum wins int'l architectural award

SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- A wood museum in Incheon, west of Seoul, has been chosen for an architectural prize of a world authority, according to the awards' website on Thursday.

The World Architecture Community (WAC) announced "Mokyeonri: Kinetic Wood Museum" located in Incheon Grand Park in the port city as one of the top five projects chosen in the "Realised" category of the 25th World Architecture (WA) Awards.

This photo provided by SOftARchitectureLAB Co. shows the exterior of "Mokyeonri: Kinetic Wood Museum" at Incheon Grand Park in Incheon, west of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Completed in January by Han Eunju, head of SOftARchitectureLAB Co., the three-story building was designed as an exhibition piece itself where visitors can diversely sense wood and trees without independent exhibition space, the WAC commented.

Launched in 2008, the WA Awards are given three times a year in the three categories -- "Designed," "Realised" and "Student." "Mokyeonri," meaning harmony between trees from different roots, is the first prizewinning project of the Korea Forest Service's open competition for the wood museum.

The project introduced the kinetic architecture for the first time in the country through a wood screen that is four meters high and 30 meters long. The interactive screen called "Ambience Wall" was designed to make possible interactions between people and architecture, and communication between inner and outer space. Its design has also been praised as a contemporary interpretation of the frame of sliding doors in traditional Korean architecture.

This photo provided by SOftARchitectureLAB Co. shows the exterior of "Mokyeonri: Kinetic Wood Museum" at Incheon Grand Park in Incheon, west of Seoul. (Yonhap)