Arario Co., Ltd., a Cheonan-based local enterprise that began as a central bus terminal business in 1978, showed early interest in arts and culture by constructing Arario Sculpture Plaza and Arario Gallery near the terminal when it is relocated to Sinbu-dong in 1989. Cheonan Yawoori Cineplex, opened in 2001 with a name combining the friendly Korean terms “ya” and “uri,” serves as a landmark forming connections between the city’s image and its traveling citizens, while embodying the attributes of a complex space where similar yet distinct programs — multiplex, intercity terminal, express bus terminal, shopping center, department store, and gallery — must be interconnected. Architecturally, the approach considered the site’s context where “one” (cinema) meets “many,” borrowing similarities in building imagery and materials to relate to surroundings, while simultaneously creating a new image unique to the cinema with contrasting juxtapositions through “montage.” 

Yawoori Cineplex, as the first standalone cinema in Chungnam Province, reflects comprehensive considerations over various elements. Primarily, it focuses on multiplex essentials by providing visual, auditory, and tactile satisfaction, along with all comfort factors for movie viewing such as entry/exit circulation and temperature/humidity control. To achieve commercial efficiency, it harmonizes with surrounding retail while ensuring operator convenience for economic synergy, and as a multi-use facility, it fosters building stability, publicness, and citizen convenience through terminal-connected circulation. Additionally, it provides a modern and beautiful first impression of Cheonan City for all visitors arriving by car or bus — a symbolic landmark serving as a meeting point for citizens — with its strengthened role as a rest and cultural space linked to the external sculpture park, offering diverse spatial experiences. The cinema was expanded into a mixed-use commercial facility in 2005, operated for 18 years, and reopened as CGV Cheonan Terminal in February 2019. 

In the Press

• [Chosun Ilbo] “There’s no theater like this one” Audiences from Chungcheongbuk-do and Gyeonggi Province also make the trip
• [JoongAng Ilbo] From a small theater to a leading cultural space in the Chungcheong region
• [JoongAng Ilbo] Cheonan Yawuri Cinema ranked 9th among 328 theaters nationwide in attendance last year
• [The Segye Ilbo] Cheonan’s Yawuri Cinema Transforms Beyond a Movie Theater into a Cultural Space
• [Chungcheong Times] Cheonan Yawuri Cinema to Close Operations on the 17th