LG Arts Center SEOUL Begins a New Journey on 13 October at its New Home in Western Seoul
LG Arts Center, one of South Korea’s leading arts theatres will have a new beginning at its new home in western Seoul (Magok area) on 13 October 2022. The new arts centre replaces the existing LG Arts Center in southern Seoul (Gangnam area) which opened in 2000. Since its beginning, the centre has presented more than 867 performances and 6,300 shows of diverse genres, from classical music to jazz, contemporary dramas, musicals, and ballet, drawing 4.5 million audiences for 22 years. After its 22-year run, LG Arts Center is set to move to southwestern Seoul – the young, fast-developing district accommodating Seoul’s first botanic garden, global companies’ industrial complexes, and R&D facilities like LG Group, Lotte, and Kolon. The old property in Gangnam was handed over to GS Group.
Photo by Bae Jihun
Photo by Bae Jihun
The new LG Arts Center is named LG Arts Center SEOUL. The architect of the new centre is the world-famous Tadao Ando, working in collaboration with Theatre Projects which is responsible for theatre planning and theatre technical systems advice. The centre is built on a 41,631-square-meter site that comprises a 1,335-seat auditorium named ‘LG SIGNATURE Hall’ (Grand Theatre), a 365-seat black box theatre named ‘U+ Stage’ (Black Box), two rehearsal rooms, and multiple classrooms. LG SIGNATURE Hall is a multi-purpose proscenium theatre designed as an architecturally transformable space to provide adaptable stage configurations. This versatility is achieved using movable towers and acoustic conditions in the auditorium suitable for the different types of performances hosted in the theatre, from unamplified shows, including symphonic orchestral concerts and opera to amplified events such as plays, musicals and pop concerts. The black box theatre, U+ Stage is more flexible. Depending on a stage plan, the seat configurations are changeable from empty space to arena, traverse, end-stage, thrust, or long thrust type.
Photo by Bae Jihun
Photo by Bae Jihun
LG Arts Center SEOUL will present Korea’s leading artists and world-renowned companies in a wide range of programmes. It will work and collaborate closely with local and international artists to develop cultural diversity, break artistic conventions, and increase dialogues with the audience. “We would like to continue presenting contemporary performances as the LG Arts Center has been doing, as well as bring to the stage more performances designed to access a wider range of audiences through collaborations with local and overseas artists,” Tency Hyun-Jung LEE, Artistic and Managing Director of the LG Arts Center SEOUL said.
LG Arts Center SEOUL is managed by the LG Yonam Cultural Foundation, a non-profit organisation affiliated with LG Group.