Seoul to get 'bigger and brighter' underground park

Seoul city government has chosen French architect Dominique Perrault's proposal to build a park and underground complex on Yeongdong-daero Street between Bongeunsa Station and Samseong Station in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu. / Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

Seoul city government has finalized a plan to build in its eastern region a park that will be bigger than its symbolic Gwanghwamun Square.

The nation’s biggest underground complex will comprise a transfer center for five subway lines, a shopping mall and more.

The transformation of the busy commercial district in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, will be based on an urban planning

proposal by French architect Dominique Perrault’s consortium.

The 30,000-square-meter park will be surrounded by trees and provide an open space inside for public events, such as concerts.

His work was selected in an international competition hosted by the city in June and announced as the winner on Monday.

The 30,000 square-meter park will be on Yeongdong-daero Street between Bongeunsa Station and Samseong Station. The park will be 1.5 times as big as Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, where many demonstrations and festivals have been held.

Below the park will be a six-storied underground complex with a total area of 160,000 square meters. A metro transfer center will help travelers from five lines change trains.

The venue will also have a shopping mall, a bus platform, exhibition halls, a library and a museum.

Basement floors 1-4 will be designed to capture sunlight, using a 560 meter “light beam” above the park that will attract the light and reflect it underground. The suggested title for this feature is “Lightwalk.”

The underground complex, six stories tall, will comprise a shopping mall, a library, exhibition halls and a museum, as well as transfer centers for metro and buses. It will also have natural sunlight, via a “light beam” above ground.

After the city and Perrault’s consortium sign a deal within this year, planning will start early the next year and continue until January 2019, followed by construction.

Competition’s evaluation committee head Kang Ki-ho said the assessment focused on “the park’s characteristics and feasibility for practical use, relation to areas in proximity and traffic connections.”

“We thought that with the winning design, there will be a richly verdant park amid an urban area and a quiet place with open sky, which can provide comfort to citizens.”

Perrault is already known in Korea for the Ewha Campus Complex at Ewha Womans University. He also designed the National Library of France and La Poste du Louvre building in Paris, and DC Towers in Vienna, Austria.