Hyper-Abundant City

The masterplan uses the river as an organizing influence in creating a set of riverine islands, introducing a dense network of ecotones from the water’s edge to a tapestry of architectural settlement. Defined by an ecological tapestry, which organizes the masterplan both horizontally and vertically, the plan presents the idea that the new urban section should maximize the potential for productive nature—aquatic to terrestrial ecologies, from the floodplain to the mountain—introducing biodiversity and cultivation at every slope, terrace, and façade. Regarding building form, the ecological tapestry presents the idea that habitation begins with the domestic unit and the scale of the community. Buildings, structures, and their infrastructure and community functions, negotiate the landscape and accumulate with the logics of a village prioritizing social and natural connection. The masterplan additionally imagines Apgujeong as a regional flood retention zone, where defensive infrastructure is traded for biological systems that embrace dynamic weather. In this Hyper-Abundant future, everyday life will be characterized by individual and collective prosperity and wellness.