Hidden History of Dongdaemun Design Park and Zaha Hadid [A Brief Introduction to Dongdaemun Design Park]—Listen to the City 2006: Planning Begins The Design Park Plaza is one of the key efforts in Design Seoul, which was developed in 2006 just after Oh Se-hoon was first elected as mayor. The plan was to revitalize the economy of the Dongdaemun area by demolishing Dongdaemun Stadium (baseball stadium included) and building a design complex in its place. Originally, it was supposed to be completed in 2010 in time for the Design Olympiad and Design Capital Seoul events. That year saw the end of Oh’s first term as mayor and an election for the next one. But repeated design changes resulted in the completion date being pushed back to July 2012, and the construction costs ballooned to 480 billion won—double the initially planned 240 billion won. Designer Zaha Hadid received 15,570,000,000 won for her design. The design selection was conducted through nominated designs, with the nominated architects coming from among the most outstanding in Korea and overseas. A total of eight architects or architectural firms received invitations: Cho Sung-ryong, Choi Moon-gyu, Yu Geol, and Seung Hyo-sang from Korea and FOA, MVRDV, Steven Holl, and Hadid from overseas. Cho’s runner-up design was viewed as a masterwork that showed a solid understanding of the cultural context of Dongdaemun, while Seung’s plan, which did not place very highly, would have left most of the stadium intact. MVRDV’s design placed an emphasis on the identity of the site as a former stadium. The winning selection was “Metonymic Landscape” by Arab-British architect Zaha Hadid. Her concept was a “form harmonizing with the landscape”—the goal being to create a new space linking park and building into a single whole based on an understanding of the flow of water in the Cheonggye Stream and the movements of people, rather than the historical setting of Dongdaemun Stadium or a place of memories from the past. “This design makes people think about things they do not ordinarily think about. The project originated from a belief in the ‘power of design.’ Architecture provides a special inspiration to the public, frees our thought, and improves quality of life. Based on this thesis, I questioned what I could do to provide a good experience for designer and visitor alike. Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park will serve as a catalyst for a creative design city, teaching people new ways of thinking. I plan to present an architectural design for a city that is like an organism, ever changing—one that takes into account a close connection with the public, and how many new possibilities the city gains with that architecture. Korean tradition and an evolving, futuristic design will be distilled and integrated into the structure. The structure and the park form a continuous wave without division between interior and exterior, and this unprecedented design will provide people with all kinds of ideas and benefits. The new Seoul lanmark will also play a symbolic role for the 2010 World Design Capital in various events and cultural activities.” The idea that the form of the landmark can change citizens’ way of thinking seems to represent a very positive and enlightened approach. But is it possible to equate the physical openness of interior and exterior experienced by the pedestrian with a symbolic openness? And will the streamlined exterior be capable of guiding an organismal change in the city? Perceiving such formal characteristics as symbols is an error that afflicts many deconstructionist architects. Hadid’s design obvious has an open form, but this does not necessarily signify openness. And if the structure should be open, then open to what? Given that Hadid only visited Korea once 18 years before and had no particular memories of the city other than the image of temples, it would not be easy for her to understand the particular spatiality of Dongdaemun Stadium. Like other cities, Seoul is home to a middle class that is able to partake in culture, but Hadid could hardly be expected to have been aware of the history of anti-Japanese resistance bound up in Dongdaemun Stadium, the crowds that vented their anger under the dictatorship through baseball, the retail and wholesale clothing merchants who passed by it, the streetside restaurants that packed the area, the thousands of street vendors who fed off this area that disappeared for the sake of her structure. We cannot blame her for failing to grasp the particularity and history of the setting. The materials developed by the city for the invited designers contain scarcely any mention of the baseball stadium’s history, and none at all of the street vendors or the local folk flea market. In other words, the commissioners wanted a break with the past, and this was reflected in Hadid’s structure. (Reas more at Listen to the City's website )

• published: 30 May 2012
• views: 1777

Hidden History of Dongdaemun Design Park and Zaha Hadid [A Brief Introduction to Dongdaemun Design Park]—Listen to the City 2006: Planning Begins The Design Park Plaza is one of the key efforts in Design Seoul, which was developed in 2006 just after Oh Se-hoon was first elected as mayor. The plan was to revitalize the economy of the Dongdaemun area by demolishing Dongdaemun Stadium (baseball stadium included) and building a design complex in its place. Originally, it was supposed to be completed in 2010 in time for the Design Olympiad and Design Capital Seoul events. That year saw the end of Oh’s first term as mayor and an election for the next one. But repeated design changes resulted in the completion date being pushed back to July 2012, and the construction costs ballooned to 480 billion won—double the initially planned 240 billion won. Designer Zaha Hadid received 15,570,000,000 won for her design. The design selection was conducted through nominated designs, with the nominated architects coming from among the most outstanding in Korea and overseas. A total of eight architects or architectural firms received invitations: Cho Sung-ryong, Choi Moon-gyu, Yu Geol, and Seung Hyo-sang from Korea and FOA, MVRDV, Steven Holl, and Hadid from overseas. Cho’s runner-up design was viewed as a masterwork that showed a solid understanding of the cultural context of Dongdaemun, while Seung’s plan, which did not place very highly, would have left most of the stadium intact. MVRDV’s design placed an emphasis on the identity of the site as a former stadium. The winning selection was “Metonymic Landscape” by Arab-British architect Zaha Hadid. Her concept was a “form harmonizing with the landscape”—the goal being to create a new space linking park and building into a single whole based on an understanding of the flow of water in the Cheonggye Stream and the movements of people, rather than the historical setting of Dongdaemun Stadium or a place of memories from the past. “This design makes people think about things they do not ordinarily think about. The project originated from a belief in the ‘power of design.’ Architecture provides a special inspiration to the public, frees our thought, and improves quality of life. Based on this thesis, I questioned what I could do to provide a good experience for designer and visitor alike. Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park will serve as a catalyst for a creative design city, teaching people new ways of thinking. I plan to present an architectural design for a city that is like an organism, ever changing—one that takes into account a close connection with the public, and how many new possibilities the city gains with that architecture. Korean tradition and an evolving, futuristic design will be distilled and integrated into the structure. The structure and the park form a continuous wave without division between interior and exterior, and this unprecedented design will provide people with all kinds of ideas and benefits. The new Seoul lanmark will also play a symbolic role for the 2010 World Design Capital in various events and cultural activities.” The idea that the form of the landmark can change citizens’ way of thinking seems to represent a very positive and enlightened approach. But is it possible to equate the physical openness of interior and exterior experienced by the pedestrian with a symbolic openness? And will the streamlined exterior be capable of guiding an organismal change in the city? Perceiving such formal characteristics as symbols is an error that afflicts many deconstructionist architects. Hadid’s design obvious has an open form, but this does not necessarily signify openness. And if the structure should be open, then open to what? Given that Hadid only visited Korea once 18 years before and had no particular memories of the city other than the image of temples, it would not be easy for her to understand the particular spatiality of Dongdaemun Stadium. Like other cities, Seoul is home to a middle class that is able to partake in culture, but Hadid could hardly be expected to have been aware of the history of anti-Japanese resistance bound up in Dongdaemun Stadium, the crowds that vented their anger under the dictatorship through baseball, the retail and wholesale clothing merchants who passed by it, the streetside restaurants that packed the area, the thousands of street vendors who fed off this area that disappeared for the sake of her structure. We cannot blame her for failing to grasp the particularity and history of the setting. The materials developed by the city for the invited designers contain scarcely any mention of the baseball stadium’s history, and none at all of the street vendors or the local folk flea market. In other words, the commissioners wanted a break with the past, and this was reflected in Hadid’s structure. (Reas more at Listen to the City's website )

• published: 30 May 2012
• views: 1777