Re-Designing a Militaristic Landscape, Yongsan Army Base in Seoul

Yongsan Park © West 8

A few years ago, a competition was held by Seoul government to redesign a military base into a public park. Yongsan American Army Base is located in the center of Seoul but had been walled off from the rest of the city for past 110 years. The army is going to be relocated to PyeongTaek, an hour away from Seoul, at the end this year (2017) and Yongsan territory will get ready to start its new life as a public park.

JUSMAG-K in Yongsan Base 용산기지 © 뉴 조선 박종인 기자

To majority of Koreans, Yongsan Base was considered as an isolated land or a foreign territory that had never been a part of Korea. Although pieces of historical elements from 100 years ago still remain in Yongsan base, Korean citizens never had a opportunity to step in - it will be particularly challenging to design a park on a site that had never been socially or culturally integrated with its people nor the rest of the country.

A firm won this competition was West 8 - a Rotterdam based landscape architecture & urban design office. They are known for the imaginative story telling in planning cities and designing landscape around the world. West 8 always bring something new on the table and make designers get excited about seeing their ideations coming into reality. They astutely set a main theme for Yongsan Park as well.

백두대간 / Baek Doo Dae Gan

© West 8, Archdaily

It is a historic and traditional Korean term that stands for a mountain ridge which is placed like a spine in the center of Korean peninsula (from North to South). BaekDooDaeGan also stands for Korean culture, customs and the way of lives, which Koreans have established from living in this particular geography over the centuries.

© West 8, Archdaily

© West 8, Archdaily

Introducing a modern park by using a familiar term, which shows a long relationship Koreans had with their land, seem to be a quite heartfelt and impassioned design approach. As a Korean national and a designer, I am really curious to see how West 8 is going to stitch the military base back to Korean urban fabric.

There is always a limitation when foreign practitioners have to design elements that would fulfill a national identity. Interactions and communications with local agency, local practitioners and citizens of Seoul will be needed to fully plant the Baek Doo Dae Gan concept to the land that has been waiting to be integrated back to its own peninsula for past 100 years.

Thanks for reading & Stay tuned for the next story!