Archinect - News

Seoul wants to built a giant spokeless Ferris wheel by 2025

2023-03-20T12:05:00-04:00

South Korea’s capital has debuted an eye-catching new concept for the Seoul Ring, a new spokeless Ferris wheel it says will be the second largest in the world once it graces the city’s symbolic Haneul Park by the end of 2027.

The structure is reportedly meant to stimulate unity between North and South. The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) says it will show “the harmony and reunification of the Korean race,” according to Hypebeast. Its ring will stretch to 590 feet, and it will be operated as a London Eye-type tourist attraction with a capacity for more than 11,000 passengers per day.

The Seoul Ring will be behind only the two-year-old Ain Dubai, which stands 820 feet, and will stand as the centerpiece of a cultural complex on the manmade Nodeul Island that was until recently a 30-acre landfill.

Image courtesy SMG

The SMC says it will be operated on renewables and be serviced by a fleet of all-electric transport vehicles. The Korean Herald reported costs to be around $310 million. ...

David Marks, architect behind London Eye, passes away at age 64

2017-10-09T16:51:00-04:00

David Marks, who suffered a long battle with cancer, passed away Friday morning at the age of 64. The Jewish architect was the innovative visionary behind fanciful projects such as the London Eye, the British Airways i360 observation tower, the Treetop Walkway at Kew Gardens, and the University of Cambridge Primary School among others.

British Airways i360 at Brighton. Image courtesy of 2017 Structural Awards

Born in Stockholm in 1952, Marks grew up in Geneva and moved to London in 1972 to attend the Architectural Association School (AA). There he met Julia Barfield, whom he married in 1981. Following a stint working for Richard Rogers, the couple formed their own practice—Marks Barfield Architects—in 1989.

London Eye. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Marks was known for his entrepreneurial spirit. After winning a competition entry that came to nothing for his and Barfield's Ferris Wheel design, the two famously remortgaged their home and spent six patient years gathering support...

Aerial cable cars proposed for Chicago

2016-05-05T21:03:00-04:00

London Eye designers Marks Barfield Architects and Davis Brody Bond have created a new aerial cable car for Chicago. The plans, which are being sponsored by Lou Raizin and Laurence Geller CBE, have yet to gain approval from any official city agency, but in the meantime here are a few renderings of the gleaming cars gliding to and fro across the cityscape:

By cruising over the Navy Pier, the Chicago Lakefront, the Riverwalk running alongside the Chicago River, and downtown Chicago, the cable cars would "showcase an aerial vista of Chicago and its architectural heritage to the eyes of the world." The full video can be seen at the 26:42 mark of this much longer tourism presentation spiel: