Seoul is about to receive its very own elevated park created from an overpass originally built in 1970. In 2006, safety inspectors deemed the overpass to be unsafe and the city planned to demolish and rebuild it. But further consultation with the city’s residents led to the idea of transforming the overpass into a pedestrian walkway, and a design competition was launched in 2015. Netherlands-based MVRDV won the competition with its Seoul Skygarden design.
Park won-soon, Seoul’s Mayor, has described Seoul Skygarden, which will open in April, as a place where “nature and humans can live side by side,” according to qz.com.
And it seems as though there will be a heavy emphasis on the nature aspect of this nature/human interaction as the elevated park will feature 24,000 plants (including trees) labeled and organized in “neighborhoods” along the overpass in Korean alphabetical order. The plants will represent 254 species native to South Korea.
The park will provide aesthetic beauty and a nice strip of greenery through the city, but will have a practical function, as well. Seoul Skygarden will provide a shortcut through the city, turning a 25-minute walk around Seoul Station into a 10-minute stroll. Cafes, performance stages, street markets, and flower shops will be integrated among the thousands of plants.
As night falls, the park will transform with blue lighting from tree pots and lampposts bathing the path while the plants are lit up separately. As Winy Maas, Co-Founder or MVRDV says, rather poetically, on the firm’s website, the lighting will create an effect “as if you’re walking in a cosmos, and all the plants will be lit as if they are the stars, which, they are.”
The park will stretch for 938 meters and will allow for other green spaces to connect to it in the future. Eventually, MVRDV envisions the park becoming an urban nursery growing trees and plants for surrounding districts.
The project is expected to cost Seoul $33 million.
Rendering courtesy of MVRDV.
Rendering courtesy of MVRDV.
Rendering courtesy of MVRDV.
Rendering courtesy of MVRDV.
Related Stories
| Nov 2, 2014
Top 10 LEED lessons learned from a green building veteran
M+W Group's David Gibney offers his top lessons learned from coordinating dozens of large LEED projects during the past 13 years.
| Oct 30, 2014
CannonDesign releases guide for specifying flooring in healthcare settings
The new report, "Flooring Applications in Healthcare Settings," compares and contrasts different flooring types in the context of parameters such as health and safety impact, design and operational issues, environmental considerations, economics, and product options.
| Oct 29, 2014
Better guidance for appraising green buildings is steadily emerging
The Appraisal Foundation is striving to improve appraisers’ understanding of green valuation.
| Oct 27, 2014
Report estimates 1.2 million people experience LEED-certified retail centers daily
The "LEED In Motion: Retail" report includes USGBC’s conceptualization of the future of retail, emphasizing the economic and social benefit of green building for retailers of all sizes and types.
| Oct 27, 2014
Top 10 green building products for 2015
Among the breakthrough products to make BuildingGreen's annual Top-10 Green Building Products list are halogen-free polyiso insulation and a high-flow-rate biofiltration system.
| Oct 21, 2014
Inside LEED v4: The view from the MEP engineering seats
Much of the spirited discussion around LEED v4 has been centered on the Materials & Resources Credit. At least one voice in the wilderness is shouting for greater attention to another huge change in LEED: the shift to ASHRAE 90.1-2010 as the new reference standard for Energy & Atmosphere prerequisites and credits.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 16, 2014
48 building professionals in 2014 class of LEED fellows
To be selected, LEED Fellows are nominated by their peers, undergo an extensive portfolio review, must have at least 10 years of experience in the green building industry and hold a LEED AP with specialty credential, among other requirements.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 14, 2014
USGBC awards individuals, firms for leading the way in sustainable construction
This year’s Leadership Award recipients include Christine Ervin, David Orr, Jim DeCesare, Lloyd Alter, Tom Paladino, The Near Westside Initiative, and Mars, Inc.
