The National Aviation Museum, located in Gimpo Airport which is preparing to become an airport city, is a multi-cultural space promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to raise the status of the Korean aviation industry. In order to create a new museum that will become the hall of education, exhibitions, and experiences representing the aviation industry, three ideas that expresses science, freedom, beauty, and adventure were reflected in the design. First, “Air Turbine”, the motif of which has been adapted from an airplane turbine, is a symbolic icon in which mechanical aesthetics and science technology are integrated as a landmark of the aviation industry. Second, “Air Show”, an aviation gallery, where the history of Korean aviation unfolds like a panorama, is presented in order to realize an exhibition space of a new paradigm that gives a sense of freedom and dynamics of flying. Third, “Air Walk’, a three-dimensional exhibition walkway that flows through the planes of various heights is created for a more dynamic experience in the shining lights of the architectural structure.
The site is planned in a multi-faceted circular layout with frontality in all directions including the southern beltway, supporting complex, and the main entrance road(Haneul-gil), located in the central position between the airport and support complex. For the permanent exhibition space, a three-floor void is created to make an integrated space where outdoor exhibitions are allowed through the transparent façade. Two different buildings, a circular exhibition hall that is customized as an exhibition space to have aviation freely flying in the sky, and a rectangular management building optimized for functions such as storage, work, and facilities, are met in harmony with the surrounding environment. The interior of the eco-friendly wing-shaped air turbine is composed of a spiral exhibition space as a starting point of the aviation gallery, and guides the visitors to walk naturally through the planes on the ceiling and the dynamic space.