jamsil-heterotopia
Location: Jamsil Sports Complex, Seoul, Korea
Area: 948,000㎡
Client: Seoul Metopolitan City
Collaboration with Hangman Zo (SNU), Jonghoon Im (SNU), Youngok Bae (SNU)
As a symbolic legacy of the Seoul Olympic Games, 1988, Jamsil Sports Complex has remained with its limited function. On the other hand, it has been separated from its surrounding nature and fast changing urban conditions, also has been neglected from its inhabitants and visitors as well.
This proposal for international competition entry exploits 3 inherent assets of the site by redefining the water edge, by manipulating the topography of riverbanks with the function of flood control, and by reinforcing and squaring the plaza of the historical stadium. Olympic Expressway is undergrounded, and the levees are transformed into undulating and continuing terraced banks and landforms, influenced by layers of the mountains surrounding Seoul; they create a new horizon on the site as a framework of the development. The edge of flood zone becomes riparian as its original condition; the redefined riverbanks provide the underlying structural spine for the design of the waterside. The pier with urban beach and the dock for water sports brings urban life closer to the river.
The upper level of the site consists of new urban development plan incorporating mixed use programs, sports facilities. Plaza and intimate alley streets provide a lively public place of daily life and source of civic pride. All these structures are still in the influence of dominant hill-scape; advanced relationship of city and nature. Urban links are restored back to Seoul through international business district and its lively waterfront. The district, with Tancheon cutting through, features global business center, shopping malls and hotels. The waterfront allows various urban amenities for workers, inhabitants and travelers.
With its ecological value and social dynamics, the master plan addresses a paradigm of contemporary urban structuring integrated with a wild natural system, which would assure the place to be a valuable legacy to last for generations in the center of Seoul.