Seoul 100-year Masterplan Exhibition (2023): Seoul Green Network

In this project, the Han River itself binds our city. Its expansive breadth becomes a ‘vast land,’ and its immense volume transforms into ‘deep space.’ It represents dynamic terrain onto which new spatial concepts can be grafted.

Yoongyoo Jang introduces ‘Amorphous Space,’ an interim state with no fixed location but the potential to manifest anywhere. Amorphous Space is built as a fusion of micro-space imbued with mobility. These spatial units loosely interconnect with other units, and the river is where these units materialize. 

The waterside skyline tends to be symbolized as a representative image of a city. The contrasting silhouette of a vertical city against a horizontal water surface will stand out more than others. Can the competitiveness of urban high-rises enrich the lives of citizens?

Seungman Baek suggested neighborhood living area green ring, recreating Yeouido as international landmark and recreating a new banpo district optimized for nature.

According to Grupo Aranea, analysing cities from its flow of wind, water, and land allows us to characterise them. This project aims to eliminate these structures in places where there should be nature; more specifically, in the valleys that, due to their topography, collect water and are containers of life. 

Examples of the connection with nature we had once lost and recovered can be used as a positive tool to reconnect us with the city and its past. With these processes, we will achieve the regeneration of natural cycles and recover the richness of the soil.

For the site in Ichon-dong, a series of interventions are proposed to restore thermodynamic balance over the next century. This includes restoring the river’s edge as a wetland, making the riverside accessible to the city’s entire length, and  implementing green corridors and urban promenades to restore natural air conditioning and breeze cycles.

Former concrete towers and slabs will be repurposed for heat exchange, and large thermal-battery structures will store heat for winter and release it during summer. Paved areas of the city will capture energy through thermo-electric and piezo-electric technologies, while autonomous vehicles and delivery robots ensure a near-loss-less energy cycle. 

The new architectural language of the city will be arranged through materials according to their ability to store, release, or reflect heat, store carbon, or clean the air, rather than according to their ability to instill meaning through symbolism.

Nodes, arranged at intervals of up to 400 meters, will serve as the city’s infrastructure promoting downtown. Also, these become the anchor point for floating structures that used to cross the Hangang River and the depot collecting water from the mountain.

The multi-layered platform can be applied to any disconnected space and this is the design to create a soft city landscape.

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. 

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.

This project explores the potential possibility of the Han River as a ‘Ground’; imagining the wide Han River as a potential public land, place, or space for the people of Seoul. ‘River Ground’, a new land on the Han River, is not just a bridge that serves as a connecting passage, but a new ground, a forest, and a public park in the city.

It is not simply a bridge or passageway connecting green areas, but a green space on a new level. The 500m wide land connects Gangnam (South of the Han River) and Gangbuk (North of the Han River) right admist the center of Seoul. 

Located between Seoul’s former Olympic Stadium in the Jamsil district and the rapidly growing central business district in Gangnam, the point where the Tancheon River joins the Han River is currently dominated by surface car parking and elevated highway structures. 

The central concept of 'The Weave' was to intertwine three aspects of the landscape: ‘Restoring nature, Accessibility improvement, and Leisure-Cultural waterfront’. Through the central concept of weaving, MVRDV envisions creating a continuous, fluid space that fosters the interplay between humans and nature.