The Crashing Waves (Tongyeong Concert Hall) was designed to resound the intensity and vibrancy of Korean composer Isang Yun’s music. The 1,300-seat concert hall encompassing 155,000 square feet is located on an ocean side bluff overlooking the Tongyeong Harbor in South Korea.

The concert hall design comprises two elements: the upper level, with its metaphorical frozen undulation of water waves and the podium, which at ground level starts as a landform that mimics the ocean. The calm “water” at the base builds into a spatial crescendo culminating in the vertical glass elements that define the lobby. These elongated pieces become sculptural, slightly arching to become emblematic “foam.” The visual result is one of abstracted waves crashing together.

The design experience is modulated in a series of fluid ramps that stretch from the entry doors down to the parking lot. Fluidity, once again, endows the design with breathtaking dynamism. The reference to crashing waves informs the massing, section, and site plan. Symbolically, it is the conflagration of the ocean, the music, and the two Koreas coming together that establishes the conceptual footprint that the plan is built upon, in tribute to the composer’s life.