Dezeen reports that Dutch firm MVRDV has been selected to transform an unused elevated road in South Korea’s capital city into its own Hanging Gardens, similar to the High Line in New York and Chicago’s upcoming Bloomingdale Trail Park.
The overpass connected the western part of Seoul with Namdaemun from its completion in the 1970s up to 2009, when inspections found it to be no longer safe for heavier vehicles.
Instead of demolishing the overpass, city officials called on architects to transform the elevated road into a park, which follows Seoul mayor Oh Se-Hoon’s goal of transforming the city into one of the world’s most eco-friendly.
MVRDV’s winning design, dubbed the Seoul Skygarden, includes an arboretum where plants are organized according to the Korean alphabet, acting as a “library of plants,” which will make the park easier to navigate.
Staircases, elevators, and escalators are designed to be shiftable and flexible, as the designers wanted the park to easily change and grow in the future.
The firm will work alongside fellow Dutch firm Studio Makkink & Bey and landscape designer Ben Kuipers. According to Dezeen, the project is due for completion in 2017.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 20, 2022
Top 180 Architecture Firms for 2022
Gensler, Perkins and Will, HKS, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Cultural Facilities | Aug 5, 2022
A time and a place: Telling American stories through architecture
As the United States enters the year 2026, it will commence celebrating a cycle of Sestercentennials, or 250th anniversaries, of historic and cultural events across the land.
Museums | Jun 28, 2022
The California Science Center breaks grounds on its Air and Space Center
The California Science Center—a hands-on science center in Los Angeles—recently broke ground on its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
Headquarters | Jun 21, 2022
Walmart combines fitness and wellness in associates’ center that’s part of its new Home Office plan
Duda | Paine’s design leads visitors on a “journey.”
Cultural Facilities | Jun 15, 2022
Gehry-designed Children’s Institute aims to foster community outreach in L.A.’s Watts neighborhood
The Children’s Institute (CII) in Los Angeles will open a 200,000-sf campus designed by Frank Gehry this summer.
Cultural Facilities | Jun 10, 2022
After 10 Years, Taiwan’s new Taipei Music Center Reaches the Finish Line
RUR Architecture has finished the Taipei Music Center (TMC), turning a 22-acre (9-hectare) site into a new urban arts district.
Projects | Mar 24, 2022
A Hollywood home for creatives
A Hollywood development will serve as a collaborative center for artists, students, and those in the entertainment industry.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 10, 2022
A ‘reimagined’ David Geffen Hall in New York is on track to open this fall
Its half-billion-dollar reconstruction is positioning this performance space as an integral key to luring people to the city again.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 8, 2022
Cincinnati Ballet’s new center embodies the idea that dance is for everyone
Cincinnati Ballet had become a victim of its own success, according to company president and CEO Scott Altman. “We were bursting at the seams in our old building. We had simply outgrown the facility,” Altman told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
