The architecture of the River Culture Pavilion ( ARC ) is an powerful formal statement that combines nature, technology and space. The bold curved form of the ARC is perched on a peninsula that juts into the river and surrounded by an awe inspiring natural environment. The building is a strong focal point set against a stunning panoramic landscape. The architecture is comprised of a vessel shaped form that is clad in silver fritted ETFE pillows that through a play of transparency and geometry creates an ephemeral effect.

This atmospheric quality of the building enclosure is heightened by light reflections from shallow pool of water that surrounds the base. While the visible portion of the building sits atop an artificially formed landscape, the exhibition gallery concealed below is the space through which the visitors enter. While the exterior of the ETFE clad structure captures the quality of the changing light with the open sky and river landscape as backdrop, the darkened and hermetic interior of the main structure houses an immersive multimedia environment illuminated only by projections of the abstracted and re-conceptualized qualities of the surrounding site. The architecture enables the visitor's experience to be an alternating play between a 'real' experience of the water, sky and landscape that surrounds the building, and a virtual experience as presented through multimedia. This experience culminates on the roof where a large reflecting pond reflects the sky and an observation terrace enables the visitor to overlook the site and its natural surroundings from yet another perspective.

The River Culture Pavilion is constructed in Daegu, South Korea on the site where four rivers come together. The pavilion was constructed to showcase the river-based cultures in the area and to document their changes. Knippers Helbig developed the façade and structural concept of the building through the schematic phase. The structural concept of the building is shown by the clear division between the shell and core, which allows the development of a light shell structure and avoids creating locked-in forces between the two systems. The primary structure of the pavilion is composed of a steel and concrete composite structure that is laterally stabilized by two concrete cores. The vertical circulation winds around a central open space. The façade consists of a steel gridshell laterally supported by the primary structure. The gridshelliscoveredbyspecially-patterned ETFE pillows.