Projects for : Seoul. Designing the megacity

Seoul, the sprawling capital of the Republic of Korea, is a vibrant megacity with a metropolitan area exceeding a population of 25 million inhabitants, among the largest of the world. It is not only South Korea’s prime urban center: it has also evolved to become a global hub, with thriving culture and economy, multinational companies and top-ranked universities. As the city has expan-ded well beyond the historic center, its ancient core still represents a crucial space of identity for its citizens and for the Nation as a whole.Over the past three decades, after the landmark 1988 Olympic Games that heralded the arrival of democracy and the country’s rise on the international scenario, Seoul has engaged with many major renovation plans that have radically transformed its urban landscape. Architectural design has played a central role in promoting a new dimension of urban quality, necessary require-ment to place the city on the global map.This book documents a decade of research and design work carried out on several important sites in Seoul’s central core. Through architectural competi-tions, master theses, design workshops and investigations of some of the city’s most relevant projects, the authors provide insight into the practices of designing for a megacity.