The Island, Artist Stephen Walter

Alleyway_view_1

Movement in X,Y and Z, a path...a promenade...

The maps below are quick studies into the character of the streets and paths that makeup the traditional low rise housing areas of Seoul. As a set they illustrate the informality and topography of these areas. It becomes clear when studying these layouts that the landscape and contours dictate. 

These drawings led me to explore the notion of a connecting path or promenade that follows and utilises the character of the landscape. The massive construction of the APT's create a terraced context with underground parking spaces and large retaining walls. As I have stated before these are my sites to test my strategy. I will upload images of the site in due course. I decided to draw the path in space and record the movement in three dimensions. This also led me to think about how the APT landscape can be used and experienced. The perspective view starts at 30m above the river on the footbridge on the road and falls through the complex, piercing apartment blocks on the way.

Movement in X,Y and Z have been represented in the sections and a plan. Little doors have been placed along the path that represent different thresholds. Yellow doors are where there is a transition from outside to inside. Grey doors, inside to outside and Black outside to underground.

Paju Book City with Florian Beigel and Philip Christou

The above images are from a dossier produced last weekend which documents ARU's work at Paju Book City, Seoul. The precedent study looks to compile drawings and photos that explain the main design concepts and materiality. It is city devoted to books, publishers and printers and is an architectural wonderland. The study is comprised of three sections, firstly a study that looks at the masterplan idea of an urban wetland. Florian and Phil describe their strategy as landscape infrastructure. Secondly a study into three of ARU's different construction envelopes and thirdly a 1:1 study of the materiality and detail of the three buildings. I spent much time exploring their second completed project for Positive Thinking publishers. The traditional Korean brick is talks of many stories as they are handmade and have the makers fingerprints on them. I liked the idea that this construction could be drawn as a curtain and I explored a method of representing the non load-bearing quality of this rain-screen facade.  

City Ecology 도시 생태학

'Two sorts of ecosystems – one created by nature, the other by human beings – have fundamental principles in common. For instance, both types of ecosystems – assuming they are not barren – require much diversity to sustain them. In both cases, the diversity develops organically over time, and the varied components are interdependent in complex ways. The more niches for diversity of life and livelihoods in either kind of ecosystem, the greater its carrying capacity for life. In both types of ecosystems, many small and obscure components - easily overlooked by superficial observation – can be vital to the whole, far out of proportion to their own tininess of scale or aggregate quantities. In natural ecosystems, gene pools are fundamental treasures; furthermore, forms of work not only reproduce themselves in newly created proliferating organisations, they also hybridize, and even mutate into unprecedented kinds of work. And because of their complex interdependencies of components, both kinds of ecosystems are vulnerable and fragile, easily disrupted or destroyed.'

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities 

Water Infrastructures 워터 인프라

Water flows through the city, pipes pierce the ground and buildings and supply the citizens needs. The map studies the differing infrastructures that collect, store and transport water. At street level this movement is recorded and metered via small devices attached to the exterior of buildings. This is another key characteristic of the traditional fabric and one that the Apatu complexes lack. 

A Complete Strategy is needed 전략

Comments from my tutorial with Professor Mull. All stronger and clearer now, looking for a way of doing things, making connections. emulsify? Emulsion has a different quality to it, putting something into a liquid condition, a different conceptual starting point? Little doors interesting, natural tendency is to open things up visually and physically. Connection can become a constricting relationship so that is more intriguing as there is the whole riverside of views and connections. Interesting, emulsion and little doors, a more complex, narnia version of connection. The gift project will have to tackle all these boundaries. Sequence of spatial interventions. Concentrate less of drumming up programme, more about different spatial conditions across rift from inland to the river. Taken as a whole can be a whole vocabulary. Similar linear structure, of filmic moments along this, but not in 3d yet. Don't come back with another project that looks at hangang regeneration. 


My next key objectives are to explore a sequence of spaces that tackle the connective issues at all five boundaries. The Aerial photograph below shows the location of these possible thresholds. Movement in three dimensions will be an integral part of this exploration. The sketch that accompanies the photo talks about the movement in the x,y and z axis with key measurements and angles which will form the spatial sequence. Little doors open up internal and external spaces revealing and hiding views and coonections.

A Strategy 전략

Reconnecting the the river to the city is the aim for my gift project. Ideas are explored in a couple of drawings below. The apatu complexes and the steep retaining wall infrastructure obstruct views and connections to the waters edge. Blending the materiality and character of the traditional housing area across the boundaries created by the road, the apartment complex and topography conceptually opens up ideas. A flow of small red brick houses have journeyed to the waters edge traveling straight through the complex. A section reveals a number of locations where physical connections are needed and where the flow is obstructed. 

A STRATEGY

To Blend 

To Bleed

To Break through 

To View 

To Emulsify

TO RECONNECT the city to its river

A number of obstructing boundaries or edges exist and are illustrated with a yellow square on the drawing below. They are all potential sites for an intervention. Boundary 1 and 2 show the possibility of an elevated connection via an existing pedestrian bridge, which breaks through the Apatu block at 3rd floor. The third boundary looks to create a connection across the retaining wall of the car park. A subterranean world exists  under the complex which is refered to as 'The Rabbit Hole' by Seoulites. The darker areas represent the idea of creating a inhabited links under ground using the carparks as tunnels. Boundary 5 is where the  city meets the waters edge. Developing a program or activity at this point that allows the complex community and the Hangang park community to share would create a successful reconnection between the city fabric and the rivers edge.

Beaches+Cities+Dislocations 해변 + 도시 + 전위

The time has come for me to distill my research allowing a clear strategic direction to emerge. I have discovered the Jimjilbang, which are to me purifying spaces embeded in the culture and urban fabric of Seoul. What I am currently concentrating on  in preparation for my gift project is a strategy of looking for physical dislocations within the city. 


The Cheonggycheon stream project is an example where the city has rediscovered a natural, historical enitity deep within the city centre. This infrastructural beach provides connections between pure and unpure parts of the city. Similary the Han was cruelly disconnected from the city and I will return to the Park to search out a site that illustrates an abrupt dislocation. Butlin's has long been an isolated 'city' within the town, a self contained community. Permeating Butlins' hard barrier will create a connection with the town. The potential of the southern boundary shared with the promenade has been neglected by the resort. Its metal spiked fence implies a negative relationship with the beach and the town. An interesting way of dealing with Butlins' dislocation could be to treat it as a city.

Photomontage of the Cheonggycheon Stream project. The urban dislocation is now a memory.

Seoul has reconnected with its Rivers through physical connections such as bridges, lifts and tunnels. The park is the length of the river, which in turn becomes the length of the city. The same spatial relationship happens in Bognor where the promenade is a public space the length of the town.  My goal is to discover a dislocated site that informs a method of reforming a connection. Possible strategies may become paths, physical interventions or the framing of views. In Bognor my strategy is to reveal the beach to the town, a method of enacting a flow that blends the two extremes.

Traditional Fabric of the Seoul

These dense low rise areas once stretched across most of the city and formed a cityscape that was homogeneous as all the buildings use ornamented bricks. The houses pile up the hillsides and respond positively with the city's topography, offering views out across the city. These areas have the character of a  'conglomerate matrix' and they resemble south american shanty towns when seen from afar. The adhoc construction methods and lack of planning regulations means that new enclosures and additions create a rich fabric that is stitched together by a complex networks of alleyways and roads.

The drawing below shows the variety of form and brick constructions that create the rich fabric of the traditional housing areas. My concern is the intricate and spatially interesting areas are being demolished and replaced with identical impersonal apartment blocks. This profit driven situation is causing social and physical dislocations. Firstly the apartment blocks are not places where people want to stay for long periods of time, which restricts the formation of strong communities. Secondly the complexes of Apatu's form urban mountain ranges, which interrupt views and an understanding of the city's topography.

Busan Beaches 부산 해변

I managed to escape Seoul for the weekend and venture to Busan a Korea's second city on the coast. This post shows my sketch study of the Haeundae Beach, it really was the Copacabana of Korea. You swim fully clothed on these beaches though. It had a typically seaside feel about the place with run down buildings and the smell of fish markets. The city escaped density by adopting the sandy beaches as a public space. Strictly no smoking!

The Weird World of Wolmi-Do 의 이상한 세계

I discovered a place that resembled some of the cheap and cheerful fancies that can be enjoyed at many seaside resorts globally. Once a romantic escape from Seoul for courting couples, the Island of Wolmi has become a promenade for mass entertainment at a hysterical pace. 

I found the experience overwhelming after a couple of hours. Intense screaming and fishy food odors filled the air, which was enough to turn even my strong stomach. It was a gray Saturday afternoon and people ventured here en masse. Sandwiched between the huge seaports and industry of Incheon, it was a surprising break in the harrowing landscape of infrastructures of imports and exports. It seemed Coney Island had arrived on a ship. 

I presented some photos of this experience and some key questions arose, which interestingly surrounded the cultural differences between my views and that of people who enjoy this orgy. Why do people enjoy this so much? Does everyone in Seoul love this type of excursion? Why do I find this juxtaposition on the waterfront somewhat uncomfortable? The views of the Sea were stunning and on a gray day it could've have been Bognor. The activity was frenzied and led to thoughts on how this was a seasonal place. It must suffer from some of the same issues as British resorts with the need to shut up shop for winter months. 

Its relationship to the water front reminded me of the typical British need to have a convoluted journey to the water accompanied with an alcoholic drink and some diverting entertainments along the way. There is a pursuit of pleasure in such a place but not in a romantic manner. The artificial landscape of distractions mirrors that of the consumer’s need in shopping malls for material objects. It is surreal and as Travis Elborough describes in such situations 'theres a giddying sense that the time-honored distinctions between the sea and the land have come unstuck some how'. 

Seoul & The Sea

This drawing looks at Seoul's urban growth towards the Yellow Sea to the West of the city. The seaport of Incheon is the nearest city to Seoul and has a population of 2.7 million making it South Koreas third largest metropolis. The transport connections between the two cities make the travel time between the two centres not much more than an hour. Our location is flagged in red which represents the KNUA campus.

Fabric of Seoul 서울의 구조

Seoul has transformed into a mega city the last sixty years. The density of the city and how its growth vertically can be seen when comparing the same view. The images below are part of an exhibition at the Museum of Seoul, the top photo was taken 1949 and second looking at the same view in 2007.

The museum also offered a chance to study the city at a scale of 1:500 on a giant model roughly 100sqm in size. It illustrated the cities new development and the ambition to turn the US military base in Itaewon into a large green lung in the centre of the city. Climbing the Namsan, a mountain in the centre of the city, the topography of the area becomes apparent. The mountains contain the city in all directions. I took a series of photos that looked at the differing densities of the city, the prevalence of the apatu apartment blocks have steadily erased the low rise more adhoc suburbs.

Dragon Hill Jimjilbang 드래곤 힐 스파

A new cultural phenomenon, Jimjilbang's have taken off in past decade are surreal place to relax, socialise and have a snooze. Dragon Hill is an elaborately themed bath house taking motifs from all around the world and throwing them together in a tower. I'd seen some images before arriving and I was intrigued to see whether they were manifestations from a underlying cultural relationship with water. This was my first adventure into naked bathing with many men. A spiritual atmosphere was missing that I would normally associate with a bath house typology. There was not much there that I could associate with traditional Korean culture. Igloos, american Indians and Terrier dog water fountains were some of the most bizarre items. The price is great 12,000 won (£7) for twelve hours, I can see why citizens have adopted them as the best way to relax after the exhausting hours they put in at the work place. There was clearly a very unnerving aspect to the spaces and they were not calming, the smell of nail parlors, food counters and people smoking in the changing rooms meant a that I left feeling a little abused.

3| Infrastructural Edges

A work in progress, my aim is to look patterns and layering that become defined by the transport infrastructures at the river Han's water front. The section below is a quick look at the Hangang Park space and flood zone and looking at the ways the rivers water connects to the landscape, city and its citizens at this threshold.

A Gift 2D Seoul 2 차원의 선물 서울

Rosa managed to befriend a very nice guy in the architecture department who passed on a gift of indescribable richness and complexity, the whole of Seoul in 1.72 giga bytes. The map of seoul shows the city tiled out of individual CAD files. A great gift.

2| A Unique Condition 고유 조건

The edge condition as I described in an earlier post is unique in many ways. In many other cultures spaces below and close to vast transport infrastructure are usually intimidating. The Han Renaissance is successful only due to the cultural mindset of Seoul's citizens. I feel that Korean culture is guided on solid moral principles in which respect of each other and the public realm enables the spaces at the rivers edge to be inhabited positively. I carried out a photographic study of an area close to Oksu subway station. I find this part of Seoul fascinating and the photos below try to study peoples activities, infrastructural connections, spatial characteristics and water relationships at first glance.

Fishing with filligree rods a place of escape and contemplation with the city left behind above.

Quiet place for a Korean siesta.

Infrastructure soars above shading the spaces below, see if you can spot the guy. The table of photos below look at four areas of interest, Activity on the bank, activity at the rivers edge, infrastructure that helps define the space and the assortment of views and perspectives across the river and the city.

1| Hangang City Park 하천 도시 공원

Our first day in Seoul began with a cycle ride along the Hangang (River). A huge entity that powers through the city. The edge condition is mind blowing... transport infrastructure passes along the bank and is pierced every now and then by the sweeping bridges. The monolithic character speaks of a cold and brutal urban reality, but the Han Renaissance project has worked wonders with the sheltered spaces below providing a park the length of the city. Planting, outdoor gyms, cycle and hiking lanes create a complex space where the citizens can escape. The Hangang park is an underworld with the noise, pollution and congestion left elevated above. A strange utilitarian beauty is embodied in the concrete forms and provide a tectonic ensemble of vertical columns and sweeping horizontal platforms. A calmness has been created in these spaces through planting which helps soften the menacing infrastructure. 

Bike rental was 'service', which was the stewards way of saying free, this meant that anyone could enjoy the entire rivers edge. We cycled a few kilometres in 3 hours coming across many activities, which included fishing, sailing, power walking, basketball, amphitheaters of varying sizes, badminton courts, picnic zones demarcated on the concrete floor, gym machines, volleyball courts and football pitches. River activities were prevalent, with people wind-surfing, sailing and catching small water ferries, which embark from a floating station. The park also included a boat yard where pleasure craft and fishing boats were stored. The amount of activity surprised and excited me, as it showed that the river is beginning to be loved and enjoyed. The renaissance project has created a unique environment a park the length of the city, which the citizens are taking full advantage of.

The Han River Renaissance Project
(Source: Seoul Met Gov, 2008a, 57,93)

'The Han River now belongs largely to the Republic of Korea, or South Korea, with its effluence in the Yellow Sea a few nautical miles from North Korea (though some of the river's tributaries are in North Korea). During the first few decades of South Korea's existence the Han River became a byword for pollution, as burgeoning industry and an impoverished populace used it as a convenient spillway for industrial and urban refuse. Though it no longer plays a central role in commerce or transportation it is a prime fixture in the life of the South Korean capital and in the last decade has become the focus of government sponsored environmental efforts to clean it up and transform it into an ecological jewel of the capital. During the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the Han River was the site of the Olympic rowing regatta.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_River_(Korea)

The World Is Not Enough

With my journey now underway I would like to talk about my Dubai experience. This city and it's culture should be so different and unrecognizable in so many ways and some parts are, but unfortunately the huge malls and skyscrapers that are so dominant are good examples of 'non-places' of our supermodern society (Marc Auge). The 'Old areas Bastakiah and Diera resembled a traditional city with their narrow streets and small souks (markets). But an overwhelming sense of sameness and banality was felt in the new areas. It is clear a rich culture can be diluted by the perils of being a global destination. The array of malls all sporting the same global brands was expected and hit home the gaudy and sickly state of our capitalist appetite for consuming. Dubai has with its linear character monopolised the excess of space by building along the coast, but why go so high with so much land? I wondered what forces are at play with regard to density or land prices? And I have to admit it just left me baffled, which means I have to take it for what it is 'a playground vision being fulfilled'. A strange ugliness pervades a place built on money and not on the personal needs and relationships of its citizens. 

Dubai has a strained relationship with water and is a good example of a dislocated society. Water is used extensively as a method of passively cooling exterior spaces and this is a harmonious and historic technique. But when a city survives solely by the energy intense method of desalinating seawater and air conditioning spaces to keep the city functioning, it does beg the question, is this extremely short sighted in the current global environmental climate? I was surprised by the amount of green planting and wondered how much water it must take to keep the city artificially and aesthetically pleasing. This need to perform becomes most evident with the 'Burj Khallifa' water show that takes place every evening at the foot of the 830m high worlds tallest building. It was incredible and all I could ask myself was how much? and at what cost? 

The city's coast with the sea breeze and cooling ocean is an Oasis, but has been pillaged by private owners. The land mass is not enough and new formations are being created off the coast, with new beaches and Islands sculpted into mad desires. Land reclamation has its ecological issues and the flows and movement of stagnating water is a key problem. Acting God and creating a 'New World', and the 'Universe' highlight the superficiality of the place. I was intrigued to notice a lake of development on these creations. The World was desolate, no sign of any civilisation, has the global financial crisis doomed this dream. It's fascinating to contemplate the scale of engineering achievements that have taken place in this one city, but I find the quality and thoughtfulness of the designs somewhat doesn't match. The city visually entertains on all the scales and that is a interesting point of departure for the rest of my research. I will return to see if this architectural disneyland will survive or adapt to the strains not to far away.


An article titled the 'The Mad Experiment' succinctly talks about some of the above issues:
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/06/28/the-mad-experiment.html


Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity (1995),  Marc Auge