Condencity_28 hangang

The Han River (Hangang) in Seoul has through history had a profound impact on the city. For decades, like many other industrialized urban centers, the river boundary has been a source of sustenance and obstacle. In recent years the city has once again reinvested in a renewed waterfront after years of industrial neglect. The challenges of opening the rivers edge to public accessibility is a major undertaking as much of the river is now bound on both sides by primary freeways.

Yesterday I participated in a design review with my colleague Marc Brossa at Konkuk University in Seoul. His Graduate level design class spent the semester investigating the Han River. The premise of the studio was an interpretation of possible scenarios to rethink positions in urban, landscape and architectural design by creating comprehensive solutions to riverfront habitation and experience. The interesting thing regarding the studio was the genuine position of combined disciplines in urban planning (considered with landscape and architectural design) . Natural systems are integral in many aspects of what we do as designers in the built environment and rather than make disciplinary distinctions the discourse becomes inherently unified in approach. Furthermore, the foundation for the studio challenged students to consider more complex relationships with regard to starkly juxtaposed natural and built environments along the rivers edge.

While the projects seemed only to scratch the surface of design potential, the dialogue of ideas was rich with possibility and interest. One student project considered freeway infrastructure and a proposition to excavate beneath it to create a regenerated wetland and extended 'natural' edge. The notion of utilizing the existing transportation infrastructure and allowing it to function beyond its intended purpose (in this case a flood and water release control 'gate') represented the intentions of the initial studio idea.

Some of the work can be viewed at NETWORK + PROCESSES

Condencity_27 threshold

Low rise commercial buildings in Seoul give new meaning to the term 'mixed-use'. Any number of various programs fill small buildings (often 3-4 floors in height avoiding the requirements of elevator service) in the cities densely packed commercial zones. Many of the stores and shops on the upper floors are accessed through a single entry corridor and stair which, in many cases is continuously open to the street.

While these buildings are clearly private places corridor extensions of the public sidewalk create a gray zone not fully private and not totally public. These unconditioned spaces take on an urban appearance becoming caked and coated with the qualities and scars of sidewalk life. They present an interesting argument for an all together publicly accessible city intertwined within privatized constructs.

Seoul Modern

Modern unassuming in Seoul.

Tucked away in the tertiary neighborhood streets of Gangnam is a residence and office mix. 'Tornado House' (as its dubbed) was completed about 15 years ago by Jun Sung Kim. Jun's work may best be described as elemental. A characteristic expressively clear in this structure. Jun is a master of carving space from weighted form and raw material. It is a dialogue of air, light and form giving way to humbling experience.

The front facade of the mixed use house is unassuming; a simple cube with recessed entry and radial wall. The entry conceals a complex internal organization only slightly hinted by the simple curved form on elevation. The portal entry opens to a split stair configuration. The entry landing as Jun has described poses a moment of choice for visitors- the option to go up or down in the seductively light filled open atrium. Each stair clings closely to two opposing, concrete arching walls.

Light penetrates deep through the central courtyard to the partial subterranean spaces below. Four court terraces link in serpentine fashion following the curved stair around the voided central open space. The delicate metal stair cast against the heavy concrete walls establishes an implied bridge between the current reality of structure and a memory of the once steeply sloped site.

The experience of space through light and form become metaphor for a new internalized landscape.

Gangnam_dusk

Rare early summer clear skies over Gangnam in Seoul.

With air that is commonly thick with humid haze, on this night the brilliantly clear blue sky touches the jagged city skyline. Saturated colors of sign-board commerce punctuate the side street experience. Tranquil calm comes momentarily amongst corporate towers and delivery service motor bikes.

Monumental City

Beijing is a city of monuments.

The vastness of the city is punctuated with grand architectural marvel. Separate only by time and distance, numerous structures stand sybolically of a common inginuity. Scale and presense contribute to a saturated experience. With each long repetitive step through Beijing, we laborioulsy cross time with the projected idea of a place amitious to construct a city worth preserving.

Condencity_26 reclaimed city

The Dashanzi Art District (also known as Factory 798) in Beijing is a decommisioned military complex and now home to a thriving artists community in Beijing. The sprawling district of long vacant factories inspires imagination and exhibits profound spaces once host to a Soviet Socialist work/live model and utilitarian architectural expression. In recent years government interest has taken control of the vast network of factory buildings with individual spaces being rented out by artists and exhibiting galleries (to the protest of some).

798 Space

Beijing

is...
soft
covered
available
quiet
anything
yellow

Condencity_25 temporary city

The recently completed Prada Transformer in Seoul is Rem Koolhaas's latest installation. Sited on the grounds of the historic Gyeonghui Palace in Seoul, the Transformer is an exercise in urban transformation. The idea behind the pavilion is to exhibit three different programs (fashion, film, and art) spanning an approximate three month period. With each new show the pavilion is rotated by crane, transforming the tent like structure to suitable position for each of the planned events.

I visited the Transformer on a bright Saturday morning recently. It is a simple steel structure wrapped in a tight elastic, translucent membrane similar to that used in industrial machine storage. On this day the taught fabric shimmered and danced in the brilliant mid-spring sun. The pavilion lightly touches down with steel pin connections onto concrete footings, mindful of the historic temple grounds close behind.

Like so much of Seoul, the installation represents a willingness of change and progress; a delicate balance of fragile history with the reality of today's unlimited possibility.

To read more about the project visit the official website: Prada Transformer Seoul

Condencity_24 opposing centers

new center (left) old center (right)

I have been postulating on the complex development of Seoul's urban centers. While I can't pretend to be anywhere near understanding how this great urban mix has grown so quick, I do have basic observations from an outsiders perspective. I have been meeting and talking with a number of informed people lately on Seoul's rapid growth. It is an urban anamoly the likes of which have not been duplicated anywhere on the planet.

The image on the left (courtesy wiki commons) is of Seoul's new business center, Gangnam (South of the Han River). Amazingly, this view and district in the city did not exist 30 years ago. On the right is Gangbuk, the historic center of the city (North of the river) and cultural nucleus. While both pictures from an aerial vantage depict a modern, vertical city, the pedestrian experience is quite different.

I'm interested in Seoul's split identity; a struggle between two urban halves, divided by river boundary. It is a fascinating polarity exposing physical and social divide. As the city continues to evolve at its frenetic pace a recent interest in public spaces is bringing new life to the common grounds of the city; in doing so, bridging a divide that has given Seoul a double identity.

Konkuk Lecture Spring Series

Awkward syntax...but you get the idea.