Dezeen reports that Dutch firm MVRDV has been selected to transform an unused elevated road in South Korea’s capital city into its own Hanging Gardens, similar to the High Line in New York and Chicago’s upcoming Bloomingdale Trail Park.
The overpass connected the western part of Seoul with Namdaemun from its completion in the 1970s up to 2009, when inspections found it to be no longer safe for heavier vehicles.
Instead of demolishing the overpass, city officials called on architects to transform the elevated road into a park, which follows Seoul mayor Oh Se-Hoon’s goal of transforming the city into one of the world’s most eco-friendly.
MVRDV’s winning design, dubbed the Seoul Skygarden, includes an arboretum where plants are organized according to the Korean alphabet, acting as a “library of plants,” which will make the park easier to navigate.
Staircases, elevators, and escalators are designed to be shiftable and flexible, as the designers wanted the park to easily change and grow in the future.
The firm will work alongside fellow Dutch firm Studio Makkink & Bey and landscape designer Ben Kuipers. According to Dezeen, the project is due for completion in 2017.
Related Stories
Cultural Facilities | Apr 20, 2015
Jean Nouvel loses court battle against Philharmonie de Paris over alleged design ‘sabotage’
Nouvel boycotted the January opening of the facility and asked for his name to be removed from all references to the work.
Cultural Facilities | Apr 16, 2015
Milwaukee’s Lakeshore State Park visitor center will be ‘off the grid’
The plans also include a built-in wastewater treatment system and rainwater collection.
Museums | Apr 10, 2015
Henning Larsen Architects designs timber museum extension in Sweden
The new extension will complement Österund’s wooded surroundings
Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015
9/11 museum triumphs over controversy
The Building Team for this highly visible project had much more than design, engineering, and construction problems to deal with.
Cultural Facilities | Apr 7, 2015
Mies’ Martin Luther King Jr. Library to get makeover
The architects say the modernization aims to improve “Mies in a contemporary Miesian way.”
Cultural Facilities | Apr 6, 2015
Berkeley’s West Branch Library generates more energy than it uses
The 9,400-sf facility is California's first Net Zero Energy-certified building.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 31, 2015
Pratt Institute to offer first-ever degree in placemaking
As part of its new Urban Placemaking and Management degree, Pratt will offer courses on topics such as "the history and theory of public space" and the "economics of place."
Structural Materials | Mar 30, 2015
12 projects earn structural steel industry's top building award
Calatrava's soaring Innovation Science and Technology Building at Florida Polytechnic University is among the 12 projects honored by the American Institute of Steel Construction in the 2015 IDEAS² awards competition.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 30, 2015
Designs released for new entertainment center in Lubbock, Texas
Amenities of the facility include a performance venue that seats 2,220, a smaller one that seats 425, a 6,000-sf multipurpose room, and a bistro café.
Religious Facilities | Mar 23, 2015
Is nothing sacred? Seattle church to become a restaurant and ballroom
A Seattle-based real estate developer plans to convert a historic downtown building, which for more than a century has served as a church sanctuary, into a restaurant with ballroom space.
