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Eunpyeong Hanok Village was selling locals hanok, the traditional Korean tile-roofed residences that have, after hundreds of years, increasingly been destroyed and replaced by towering steel structures; indeed, not since the 1930s have hanok been constructed in significant numbers.
The decline of vernacular architecture in the face of global urbanization is, of course, hardly new, though traditional Korean hanok are a particularly stark contrast to modern city living.
— The New York Times
A new housing development, Eunpyeong, in northern Seoul is solely dedicated to constructing traditional Korean hanok houses. The design adheres to certain guidelines on proportion and design, with a low center of gravity, a courtyard, and an orientation towards nature. The hanok's popularity... View full entry
Morphosis recently announced the opening of a new flagship research and design facility for The Kolon Group, a leading manufacturing company based in South Korea. The 820,000-square-foot facility is located in Magok, an emerging tech hub in Seoul. Kolon Group facility by Morphosis, located... View full entry
From Zaha Hadid’s bulbous plaza to a ‘library’ of flora planted across a skygarden, the South Korean capital is using its architecture festival to look to the future – and atone for the costly sins of the past — The Guardian
The Guardian architecture critic Oliver Wainwright is in South Korea's capital reporting from the inaugural Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. "There are over 200 biennales already, so we had to do something different," he quotes the event's curator Hyungmin Pai. "We see it as a kind of... View full entry
Ever since the High Line appeared above the streets of Chelsea in New York, cities across the globe have been working on creating their own variations of the civic project. In London, this iteration was to be the Thomas Heatherwick designed Garden Bridge. However, the project was marred by... View full entry
Located in Seoul, the Lotte World Tower, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, has become the world’s fifth tallest tower, in the process knocking 1WTC—the tallest U.S. American building—out of the top five. At 555 meters tall, the Lotte World Tower has also surpassed Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Twin... View full entry
LDF aims to grow the Lotte Duty Free Shop World Tower into the world’s No.1 duty-free shopping destination.
[...] Lotte is poised to turn the Lotte World Tower into a tourist attraction that can compare well with Dubai’s Burj Khalifa and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands
On top of that, the company plans to make the Lotte World Tower the largest tourism hub in Gangnam by equipping it with the world's highest observatory (located on the 123rd floor (555 meters high) [...].
— koreaittimes.com
Related in the Archinect News:Seoul's Lotte World Tower complex passes safety inspections, allowed to reopenConstruction in Seoul’s supertall Lotte World Tower surpasses 100th story – amid safety concernsMysterious Sinkholes Appear Near Construction Site of Supertall Skyscraper in Seoul View full entry
Lotte World Mall has finally received approval by the Seoul city government to open up its aquarium and movie theater, five months after the facilities were shut down due to safety concerns. [...]
Lotte World Mall has been embroiled in several safety issues since it opened its doors in October. Several construction workers fell to their deaths during the construction of the annexed skyscraper [...].
— Korea JoongAng Daily
Previously:Construction in Seoul’s supertall Lotte World Tower surpasses 100th story – amid safety concernsMysterious Sinkholes Appear Near Construction Site of Supertall Skyscraper in Seoul View full entry
With the completion of the 100th floor, Lotte Group invited a group of reporters on Thursday to take a peek at the Lotte World Tower, still under-construction, in Jamsil, southern Seoul. The building is currently the tallest building in Korea. [...]
While the view is awe-inspiring, the fate of the Lotte World Tower hangs in balance, especially after the 2014 Sewol disaster which resulted in more than 300 people dead.
— Korea JoongAng Daily
Previously: Mysterious Sinkholes Appear Near Construction Site of Supertall Skyscraper in Seoul View full entry
“The first thing is to find the identity of Seoul,” he says. “Seoul was created very differently from western cities, with special theories of feng shui and Confucianism, and we kept that for 600 years. We didn’t change anything – even under Japanese colonialism, that was kept. But since the 1960s, under American influence, it has changed very much.”
If Seung has his way, the days of skyscrapers springing up in central Seoul would come to an end.
— ft.com
For the developers of the world's sixth tallest building near Seoul, a mysteriously shrinking lake and the appearance of small sinkholes in residential neighborhoods couldn't have come at a more inopportune time [...]
With about 70 of its 123 floors completed, the Lotte World Tower is now undergoing a review by experts and has put on hold the opening of adjacent low-rise buildings that form part of its complex.
— Associated Press
Jang Won Choi, Kyung Min Kwon, and Cheon Kang Park of collaborative team MOON JI BANG recently won the inaugural Young Architects Program Seoul in South Korea with their proposal, "Shinseon Play". The proposal draws inspiration from traditional Korean mythology with features like gently swaying "clouds", a trampoline, and a grassy meadow -- making it an ideal outdoor installation for the summer season. — bustler.net
Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
A curvy futuristic $450M building meant to remake Seoul into a global design capital opened to the S. Korean public Friday after years of debate about its impact on a historic city precinct. And not everyone is happy with the outcome.
Designed by award-winning architect Zaha Hadid, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza is a stark contrast to its neighbourhood, which is better known in Seoul for its links to a royal dynasty that ruled for half a millennium and as home to one of the city’s oldest markets.
— o.canada.com
In yet another display of the city's commitment to 24-hour culture, Seoul is unveiling its biggest nighttime attraction yet in the neon-studded, wildly trendy shopping district of Dongdaemun.
Designed by Iraqi-British Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid, and completed at a cost of $451 million, the new Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) opens to the public March 21.
[...]the first order of business for Seoul's newest landmark and multipurpose cultural center is to kick off 2014 F/W Seoul Fashion Week.
— cnn.com
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) announced today the public opening of the new Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) headquarters in Seoul.
AS+GG collaborated with engineering firms Thornton Tomasetti and Environmental Systems Design, and locally based firm Chang-Jo Architects on the project.
— bustler.net
Find more project details on Bustler. View full entry
The Public Development Center of the Seoul Metropolitan Government recently announced the winners for "The first step to changing the Mapo Oil Reserve Base" international competition. The ideas competition challenged student and professional participants to repurpose the Mapo Oil Reserve Base in Sangam, Seoul, South Korea, which has been out of use for the past 10 years. — bustler.net
Sunggi Park, a graduate student at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Hyemin Jang, an undergraduate architecture student at Cornell University, won the first prize of $10,000 for their project "Resonance of Light." View full entry
