OMA/AMO has completed the newest showroom for Hyundai Motor Company—Genesis Gangnam in the Gangnam business district of Seoul, South Korea. Dedicated to the company’s flagship car brand, the new space reflects the new global prototype for Genesis showrooms worldwide.
The design recalls the peaceful and utilitarian aesthetic of an exhibition space, clad with a restrained color and material palette that comprises concrete, copper, felt, oak, and leather. Configured to promote more organic interactions among buyers, sellers, and the cars, the layout includes meandering spaces that choreograph buyers through the galleries, which are punctuated with open sales spaces and option desks. A test-drive room boasts photo-studio lighting projected from either side as well as a mirrored inner garage wall.
“We created an environment that tells more about the car and the Genesis brand than any logo, poster, or LED display would be able to,” says OMA/AMO Asia partner and director Chris van Duijn. “The space is dominated by the total absence of any traditional marketing tool: no clutter, no distraction. Genesis Gangnam is designed around the car and provides a context for a multiplicity of associations—or none at all, allowing each customer their own human-car experience.”
