Samsung Seocho Brand Showcase

Samsung is no.1 in Korea.
Why create another glorified retail space, especially in its home turf?

When Ralph Appelbaum Associates approached Mona Kim to direct the creation of a winning design concept for invitation-only Samsung Seocho Brand Showcase competition, it was clear that solving this mission via cool interior concepts and gratuitous interactive experiences would be too short-sighted:
We would run the risk of aging quickly and end up resembling Sony’s “hi-tech” approach of the 90’s.

Identifying the right branding strategy as a way to inform the right design approach was the priority:

What if the largest corporation in Korea broke the conventional notion of technology, corporate space, and retail to make a bold branding statement?

What if we shift the symbolic and programmatic use of corporate space from pressure of sales to a place that invites the public with collective activity, comfort, content and nature, in consideration of specificity of its site (congested Downtown Seoul) ?

How do we re-imagine a corporate visitors center?

How do we present and express technology in an unexpected manner?

Through questioning, the approach to link the technology brand to natural and human elements was born:

Open. Public.
Outdoor Inside.
A free public space to “disconnect”.
No displays. Products BECOME the experience.
Expression of “impossible made possible” notion of technology via irreal sets of experiences.
"Collective creations" and participatory experiences through media and non-media environments.
Flexible space to allow technological evolution and change.

Samsung was seduced by the beauty and forward-thinking approach of the proposal,
and we won the commission against Pentagram, Imagination, and Schlossberg !