Dutch architecture firm MVRDV has completed the Imprint, a new arts and entertainment complex spread across two buildings. Located in close proximity to Seoul's Incheon airport, the complex is attracting international attention.With a nightclub in one building and an indoor theme park in the other, the windowless structure features a number of striking elements. These include images printed on the buildings' facades of the facades of surrounding buildings. In addition, the building is raised like a curtain at the entrances and the entrance and one of the corners of the nightclub building are coated in gold.
The Imprint is part of Paradise City; a complex of six buildings with entertainment, hotels and attractions less than a kilometre from South Korea's largest airport. Due to the functions of the buildings -nightclub and theme park- the client did not want any windows in the buildings. Nevertheless, they had to connect with the surrounding architecture. MVRDV's architects were thus faced with the question of whether the façade of the Imprint could be designed in such an expressive way that it connects with the surroundings.
The architecture firm devised a solution by 'printing' elements of facades from surrounding buildings onto the Imprint and 'draping' them over the new building, as it were. The facade thus shows bricks, windows, etc. MVRDV also lifted up the building's facade in some places. This reinforces the feeling that the façade is draped over the building like a curtain and pulled up.
The facades are composed of 3,869 fibreglass-reinforced concrete panels. These panels are produced with moulds and then attached to the facade. They are then painted white to properly express the relief design. The exception is the entrance to the nightclub, where a golden plaque lies along the façade and part of the stairs and across the pavement as an invitation to visitors.
The floor area of the total project is 9,800 square metres and is divided into the Wonderbox, a kind of indoor theme park, and a nightclub with multimedia screens embedded in the floor .
