An Austrian architect, Günther Weber, was selected yesterday as the winner of the “International Competition for the Thematic Pavilion of the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea” for the design "ONE OCEAN".

The “ONE OCEAN” will be the first building in Korea to be constructed on the sea. The Thematic Pavilion will be built off the shore of the Expo site.

The winning design conceptualizes the ocean as a continuous body of water divided into principal areas, with each exhibition area as an open fluid space.

The Selection Committee, composed of Korean and international experts, noted, “It has a marvelous flow of space into the building between the two folds of exhibition areas inside, while the warped walls on the exterior mingle harmoniously with the coastlines of the South Coast region.”

A total of 136 teams from 31 countries submitted their proposals for the design contest, including 5 international and domestic teams of worldwide renowned architects.

Günther Weber, the chief architect of the winning project, is a partner at Soma-Architects. He is a graduate of the Munich University of Technology and was in charge of the steel and façade works of BMW World with Coop Himmelblau Firm of Vienna. He also participated in the building of the Cinema Center for the Pusan International Film Festival.

As the winner of the first prize, he receives 100 million won and the right to execute design development of the Thematic Pavilion.

Second place went to Lee Sang-Lim of Space Group, who presented a design titled, “OCEAN ARCH: The Divertissement of Islands,” while third place went to Manfredi Nicoletti of Italy, with her design, “The Great Blue Whale.” 3 different designs won fourth place: “Water For The Soul” by Thomas Pucher of Austria, “Amphibious Aquacultural Seascape Unit” by Nicholas Boyarsky of England, and “Ocean Imagination” by Jang Yoon-Gyu of Unsangdong Architects Cooperation.

The selected works will be exhibited in December along with the winners of other pavilions.

(Source: EXPO Yeosu official website - www.expo2012.or.kr)