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Updated design emerges for BIG’s floating city in Busan, South Korea for OCEANIX

2022-04-27T11:06:00-04:00

Further details have been revealed for the design of OCEANIX Busan, described as the “world’s first sustainable floating city.” Designed by lead architects BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and SAMOO (Samsung), the project will be constructed in the South Korean city of Busan by advanced maritime company OCEANIX in collaboration with UN-Habitat.

Potential scaled-up version of the scheme. Image by OCEANIX / Bjarke Ingels Group

We first covered the project in 2019, when BIG unveiled the project as a utopian plan for floating cities, sparking extensive debate among our community. Late last year, it emerged that the city of Busan would take the lead on realizing the project. Now, new renderings of the scheme offer further insight into how the original utopian plan may manifest.

Initial phase of OCEANIX Busan, accommodating 12,000 people. Image by OCEANIX / Bjarke Ingels Group

The current proposal would see interconnected platforms create a 15.5-acre city capable of accommodating 12,000 people. T...

Busan to take the lead in trying on Bjarke Ingels' floating OCEANIX CITY prototype in 2025

2021-11-30T09:00:00-05:00

In an effort to mitigate the impending effects of sea-level rise on coastal populations through architecture, UN-Habitat and OCEANIX are once again taking the lead with a new prototype for a floating settlement in the South Korean city of Busan.

The buzzworthy pair had previously made waves with a Bjarke Ingels-backed 2019 proposal for a floodproof habitat which has now officially found a home thanks to a groundbreaking agreement with the city’s government.

Now, with almost 50 centimeters of sea-level rise expected for the southern peninsula by mid-century, leaders in South Korea look to the prototype as a guide to extreme adaptation efforts that could help circumvent the challenges caused by an influx of coastal city dwellers overrunning a country of 52 million whose total land area is roughly equivalent to the state of Indiana.

Previously on Archinect: Bjarke Ingels presents utopian plan for sustainable floating cities to UN

The city proposal claims to be designed to withstand a...

Snøhetta’s Winning Design for the New Busan Opera House

2012-10-24T13:56:00-04:00

Snøhetta was recently announced as winner of the international ideas competition for a new opera house in the South Korean city of Busan. The site of the envisioned Busan Opera House is located inside the re-development district of the city's northern seaport.

Busan Opera House Proposal by Columbia University Team

2011-08-26T18:44:18-04:00

In the past few days, we've received many exciting entries to the South Korean Busan Opera House competition. The entry "Filtration" from graduates of Columbia University received the second prize in the competition's student category. The design team included Paul Tse, Sarah Chung, Steven Tsai, Xander Lu, and Evelyn Ting.

Busan Opera House Proposal by Orproject

2011-08-19T20:57:07-04:00

Competition entries to the tremendously popular Busan Opera House competition keep pouring into our inbox these days. Here is another one of our favorites, the proposal "Anisotropia" designed by London-based studio Orproject. The design team included Ho-Ping Hsia, Christoph Klemmt, Rolando Rodriguez-Leal, Rajat Sodhi, Natalia Wrzask, and Christine Wu.

Busan Opera House Proposal by Kubota & Bachmann Architects

2011-08-18T21:08:18-04:00

Kubota & Bachmann Architects from Zurich, Switzerland have sent us their entry "Harmony" for the Korean Busan Opera House ideas competition. The design team included Toshihiro Kubota and Yves Bachmann.

Busan Opera House Proposal by PRAUD

2011-08-17T18:06:00-04:00

Boston-based firm PRAUD has shared with us their entry to the Busan Opera House competition. The international ideas competition invited visions for a massive cultural center, comprising a 2,000-seat opera house and a 1,300-seat multi-purpose theater, that acts as a landmark building for this booming South Korean city and puts Busan on the map of international tourism.