SOMA Museum of Art, Art gallery in Oryun-dong, Seoul, South Korea
SOMA Museum of Art is an art gallery in the Oryun-dong neighborhood of Seoul, set within Olympic Park. The building has straight lines and large windows, and inside the galleries are open and well-lit, giving each work room to be seen on its own.
The museum opened in 2004 on land that had been part of the grounds prepared for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The area around it was already used for outdoor sculptures before a permanent building was added.
The museum sits inside Olympic Park, so many people combine a visit with a walk through the outdoor grounds. The open-air sculpture park attached to the museum draws people who simply wander through without entering the building itself.
The museum is inside Olympic Park, so it helps to allow extra time to walk through the grounds before or after your visit. It is well served by public transit, with subway stations and bus stops close by.
The museum was designed by architects Cho Sung-ryong and Seo An-joong, who shaped the building to sit quietly alongside the surrounding park rather than stand apart from it. Although it is in a major city, the park grounds create a buffer that makes the whole area feel removed from urban noise.
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