The Busan Cinema Center - Must See Architecture Marvel

The $150 million dollar Busan Cinema Center is an architectural oddity which opened to the public during the Busan Film Festival in October, 2011. Its cantilever roof is the world’s largest and seems to break the laws of gravity. And at night, it lights up in spectacular color, adding a splash of beauty to Busan’s most modern neighborhood.

We walked over to the Cinema Center directly after having my protective post-LASIK contact lenses removed at the Sojunghan Nun Ophthalmology Clinic. It had been just 24 hours since my surgery and, with the lenses freshly off, I was really seeing with my new eyes for the very first time. We couldn’t have picked a more impressive visual smorgasbord than the amazing Cinema Center.

The building seems to make no sense, with a curving roof supported only at one end by an inverted cone structure, which acts as the main entrance and houses a cafe. Underneath the massive roof, there’s a screen and open air seating for 4000 people, and spread across its three buildings (the Cine Mountain, BIFF Hill and Double Cone) are three further screens, lecture halls, restaurants and a performance art theater.

The complex most fully lives up to its potential during the Busan Film Festival, but there are daily screenings of classics and current hits during the rest of the year — although the website to check showtimes is Korean-only, there are American films shown often, almost always subtitled. But even if you’re not up for a movie, it’s worth taking a nighttime stroll by the Cinema Center to check out the amazing LED display on the bottom of its 60×160 square meter roof.