By Kim Rahn
Will it become a new landmark in Seoul?
The new Seoul City Hall, scheduled to open in September, is drawing mixed opinions from citizens because they say the building’s unusual design and exterior are disharmonious with the old City Hall in front of it and other structures nearby.
The majority of people interviewed in surveys don’t like the building’s design, and there are also concerns that the city government failed to make the best possible use of space although it spent 300 billion won.
On May 24, the panels that previously fenced off the construction site were removed and the new building — a 13-story structure with glass outer walls and shaped like a huge wave — could finally be seen by the public. The old City Hall, built during the Japanese colonial era, is to be preserved as a cultural heritage.
Some people said the new building design is fresh and striking, but to others, it is regarded as an example of bungled administration.
According to a survey of 314 citizens by the sister paper of the Korea Times, the Hankook Ilbo last week, 62.3 percent of interviewees said they did not like the design, while 16 percent expressed positive views about it.
Among those that expressed dissatisfaction, 76.4 percent said the design was disharmonious with nearby buildings including the old City Hall and Deoksu Palace. However, around 70 percent said the decision to preserve the old building was the right choice.
“On its own, the new building can be considered fresh-looking. But when looking at the whole picture — the new and old buildings, the plaza in front of it and other buildings surrounding them — it appears very awkward,” Jeong Hyeong-geun, an office worker, said.
A staffer at the Plaza Hotel near City Hall said workers there don’t like the new building because it is ill-matched with other buildings, adding that it looks “conceited.”
“For a hotel, views from the guestrooms are important. We’ve been proud of the views of the Seoul Plaza and the old antique building, but now I don’t know what guests will think,” said the hotel employee.
Some say the upper part of the new building looks like it is “engulfing” the old building, like a tsunami. The architect who designed it, iArc Architects head Yoo Kerl, said he meant to express the image of “cheoma,” the eaves of Korea’s traditional house, hanok, but not many people seem to agree that this has been achieved.
Yoo also said he intended the new building to overwhelm the old one, adding he didn’t mean there to be a harmony between the two buildings from the outset.
“Architecture is completed using the technology and materials available in every era and also reflects the socio-cultural context of each period. I believe that ‘coexistence of heterogeneity’ is a good concept.”
City official Lee Gil-seong said it is natural for a designer to consider various opinions.
“When the Louvre Pyramid in Paris was made, people criticized the glass structure for not harmonizing with the Gothic museum building. But now it is an attraction of the city. The Eiffel Tower, too. The new City Hall may get positive evaluation after 50 to 100 years pass.”
Besides the design issue, citizens also worry that the glass walls may make the inside of the building hot in summer and cold in winter. This problem has occurred in several glass-structure municipal offices nationwide.
“I worry that it may be hot in summer. I’m not sure whether making it with glass was the proper choice,” said a city official who wanted not to be named.
In the Hankook Ilbo survey, 49.7 percent also said that the glass outer walls may be ineffective in saving energy.
But the city said in 2010 that the new building obtained the top energy efficiency level in a preliminary inspection by the Korea Institute of Construction Technology. The building will use solar and geothermal power.
“It may look the same to existing problematic municipal buildings, where working spaces are directly behind glass exteriors and receive solar heat directly. But the new Seoul City Hall will have an inner wall called the Green Wall, set about five meters back from the outer walls, and this will be covered with plants. It will prevent heat from reaching working areas and the plants will emit oxygen,” Lee said.
People also show mixed reactions about the city’s plan to use 40 percent of the two buildings for use by the general public.
A city-run library will be set up in the old building, while the new building will house conference halls, lounges and other facilities. Instead, about half of city workers will not be able to move into the new City Hall but will be situated in two annexes.
Lee said, “We think a City Hall should be a place not only for city officials but also people living in the city.”
But Jeong said, “If city affairs are conducted in several places, city workers as well as citizens may have to waste their time visiting different buildings. That’s not efficient.”