Last month, the Rotterdam based architects MVDRV with Arup as structural consultants won the concept design for the proposed city center of the new future town of Gwanggyo about 36 kilometers south from Seoul, Korea.Though still in its conceptual phase, this acropolis of organic hill structures was designed to be a self-sufficient city of 77,000 inhabitants, 200,000 square meters for housing and retail respectively and 48,000 of office space. This concentration of different programs on the site was meant to reduce the dependency on cars and public transportation as everything residents might need are all located within this striking interactive community.
Each hill was designed as concentric circles growing vertically so as to ensure that every part of the program is provided with an outdoor terrace. Hollow central cores with the structures form atriums that serve as lobbies providing light, ventilation and create semi-public spaces for the retail portion of the program. Also, plantations around the terrace with a floor to floor circulation system store rainwater for irrigation.
The design is currently being reviewed for development feasibility at the Gyeonggi provincial authority's urban innovation corporation center. Development is set for 2011 with construction set to begin short after.
This design is very striking and forward thinking in its own way even though it reminds me of a "wookie" settlement from Star Wars, but still, I appreciate the thought process of trying not to create another mixed use tower and I think the incorporation of box hedges on the terraces will improve the overall climate and ventilation as well as reduce energy and water usage.
Images obtained from www.habitat.com
2 comments:
say is Damm! That is beautiful and it looks like the development is covering all the bases of Sustainability. I am very impressed.
This is what is possible when designers and architects and their clients think "away from the box"!
I'm working on a project in Baguio City, Philippines and that location receives significant amounts of rainfall. Enough to satisfy all non-potable needs and the design is using rainwater harvesting. You know another area of the world that gets as much or more rainfall than Baguio? Florida. And many locations in Florida are actually experiencing water shortages due to the recent drought conditions.
We need to design buildings to take advantage of all available resources. I say "Huzzah" to the Designers of this project.
Yep. I agree! Although I don't know how feasible they will be structurally.
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