On 1 February, Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced that MELIKE ALTINISIK ARCHITECTS had been chosen as the winner of the Robot Science Museum International Design Competition.
The judging committee conducted two rounds of screening to select the winning proposal. Five teams out of a total of 47 teams were selected at the first round of screening. The second round was carried out with design proposal presentations and interviews of the five teams. To ensure just and transparent judging, the second round process was disclosed to the oublic for the first time in design competitions held by SMG.
The winning proposal chose to go with a flexibly laid out spherical form. The architect explained that the atypical round shape would stand in contrast to the surrounding context, so that the presence of the Robot Science Museum could be felt from all directions. The first floor has three entrances and has additional outdoor escalators that lead to each floor, thereby enhancing accessibility. The indoor escalators lead up to the fourth floor, allowing visitors view the entire museum. The two key programmes are the exhibition programme, in which visitors can experience the newest robotics technology including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and holograms, and the educational programme that will deliver lectures on robot science.
Actual robotics will be applied in the construction of the project. While the plan is to implement robotics the entire process (from concept to construction), specific scope and method of construction have yet to be decided. The first Robot Science Museum in Korea is scheduled for introduction to the new economic hub in Chang-dong and Sanggye-dong in 2022 on a scale of 6,305m2 and budget of 30.7 billion KRW.