The ARC River Culture Pavilion, designed by New York-based multi-disciplinary design studio Asymptote Architecture, is located on an artificial river peninsula in South Korea as part of the World Expo 2012. It is a stunning silver-skinned ovaloid that seems to rise out of the semi-rural landscape on the outskirts of Daegu, a city of 2.5 million. The structure features a silver pillow-clad shape which is a powerful formal statement that combines nature, technology and space.

Descriptin from Asymptote Architecture: “The building is a strong focal point set against a stunning panoramic landscape. The architecture is comprised of a vessel shaped form that is clad in silver fritted ETFE pillows that through a play of transparency and geometry creates an ephemeral effect. This atmospheric quality of the building enclosure is heightened by light reflections from shallow pool of water that surrounds the base. While the visible portion of the building sits atop an artificially formed landscape, the exhibition gallery concealed below is the space through which the visitors enter. While the exterior of the ETFE clad structure captures the quality of the changing light with the open sky and river landscape as backdrop, the darkened and hermetic interior of the main structure houses an immersive multimedia environment illuminated only by projections of the abstracted and re-conceptualized qualities of the surrounding site.”

Source: designdiffusion.com/en/architecture-eng/a-silver-skinned-pavilion-by-asymptote-architecture/