West 8 has won International Competition for Master Plan of Yongsan Park, Korea. On the 23 April, the organizer of the competition, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs of the Republic of Korea announced the news.

The project site is a large area in the centre of Seoul with a total area of circa 243 ha that has been in use as a military base for an extended period both during the Japanese occupation and under post-War American protection. The vision of the competition, as described in the brief, is to create a park in which nature, culture, history and the future are in harmony. It will be a park which restores, sublimates, and expands upon the history and local characteristics of the area. This park shall regain respect for nature and reclaims the lost and damaged ecological system. It will eventually become a park of new urban culture for the preservation of green spaces and a sustainable future.


LED bath in cultural villange. Images © West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture.

The new Master Plan for Yongsan National Park proposed by West 8 + IROJE has been developed through an interactive process that has consistently returned to the fundamental concept of healing. The act of healing is a process that transforms the existing site through an awareness of its history into a world-class park that inspires illusions of nature, ecological restoration and a wide-ranging urban park culture.

The act of healing is developed on three fundamental levels in the transformation of the site:
  • HEALING NATURE: "SAM CHEON LI GEUM SU GANG SAN"
  • HEALING HISTORY: CONFRONTATION AND EXPOSURE
  • HEALING CULTURE: "PARK-METROPOLIS INTERFACE"
 
Site plan. Images © West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture.

Landscape architect WEST 8 in Rotterdam, together with local architect IROJE architects & partners, Prof. Kim, Nam-choon, botanist and professor of Dankook University, Prof. Kim, Bong-ryol, Professor of Korean Architectural History at National University of Arts, and DONG IL Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. are now given the chance to lead the design development of the Master Plan for the creation and structuring of the park. The construction of the park is scheduled to start in 2017 after the evacuation of the American military base from the project site.

The jury believes that "this project can evolve and adapt in response to the expertise of the local community and deeper cultural values," as Christophe Girot, the selection jury chairman, said in a statement.

An award ceremony will take place at the National Museum of Korea on the 25th of May, 2012.
 

Eco Spine Park Azalea Garden. Images © West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture.
 
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Architects
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West 8 + IROJE.
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Design team
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Adriaan Geuze, Edzo Bindels, Hyeyoung Choi, Martin Biewenga, Daniel Vasini, Eva Recio, Gaspard Estourgie, Igor Saitov, Joris Weijts, Juan Figueroa Calero, Karsten Buchholz, Kenya Endo, Marco Garcia, Maria Castrillo, Mart Reiling, Matthew Skjonsberg, Perry Maas, Pieter Hoen, Shane Fagan, Winnie Poon.
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Collaborators
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IROJE architects & planners, DONG IL Engineering Consultants, Prof. Kim, Bong-ryol (Korea National University of Arts) and Prof. Kim, Nam-choon (botanist and professor of Dankook University).
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Client
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Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs of the Republic of Korea.
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Area
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Size.- 243 ha.
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Dates
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Realisation.- from 2017.
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West 8 is an award-winning international office for urban design and landscape architecture founded in 1987. Over the last 31 years West 8 has established itself as a leading practice with an international team of 70 architects, urban designers, landscape architects and industrial engineers. West 8 developed projects all over the world in places such as Copenhagen, London, Moscow, New York, Madrid, Toronto and Amsterdam.

The office gained international recognition with projects such as Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam (NL), Borneo-Sporenburg in Amsterdam (NL), Jubilee Gardens in London (UK), Expo \'02 in Yverdon-les-Bains (CH) and Miami Beach SoundScape Park (US). Many of the projects are the result of groundbreaking entries in important international competitions. Recently won competitions include Toronto Waterfront in Toronto (CA), Governors Island in New York (USA) and Yongsan Park in Seoul (KR).

Amongst the numerous awards received by West 8 are the Honor Award of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Lifetime Achievement Award for Architecture 2011, Mondriaan Fund (formerly BKVB),  the International Urban Landscape Gold Award (IULA), the Prix de Rome, the Dutch Maaskant Award, the Bijhouwer Award, the Rosa Barba First European Landscape Prize, the Green Pin and the Veronica Rudge Green Prize for Urban Design.

Adriaan Geuze is one of the founders of West 8 urban design & landscape architecture b.v., a leading urban design practice in Europe. Geuze attended the Agricultural University of Wageningen where he received a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture. After winning the prestigious Prix-de-Rome award in 1990, Geuze, with his office West 8 founded in 1987, established an enormous reputation on an international level with his unique approach to planning and design of the public environment. By founding the SLA Foundation (Surrealistic Landscape Architecture) in 1992, Geuze increased public awareness of his profession.
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Published on: May 10, 2012
Cite: "West 8 + IROJE wins Yongsan Park competition in Seoul" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/west-8-iroje-wins-yongsan-park-competition-seoul> ISSN 1139-6415
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