Jamsil Hangang Park Natural Swiming Pools by 100architects

A creative international collaboration between 100 Architects (Shanghai), Carve (Amsterdam) and Urien (Seoul), with the local coordination & support of the landscape architect Walter Ryu, has resulted in this proposal for a leisure facility in Seoul, South Korea.

Architect: 100 Architects (Shanghai) + Carve (Amsterdam)
Client: Seoul Metropolitan City, Hangang Project Headquarters
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Size: 75,000 sqm
100 Architects' Team: Marcial Jesús, Javier González, Lara Broglio, Mónica Páez, Keith Gong, Cosima Jiang, Ponyo Zhao, Elena Michelutti
Carve's Team: Elger Blitz, Marleen Beek, Elke Krausmann, Susanna Vissani, Gaia Gleriani, Wilco Spruyt
Local Partner (Seoul): Walter Ryu (ASLA, RLA)
Korean Landscape Architect: URIEN

From the architect: With the purpose of improving the existing public facility of the Swimming Pool in Jamsil Hangang Park, the Municipality of Seoul launched a Competition for a design solution that would bring back the former glory of this 30-years-old facility on the banks of the Hang River. Not only by renovating the Swimming Pools themselves, but also seeking a solution that would reactivate the entire Park as a public destination within the City of Seoul.

Our mission transcended the renovation of the existing pools, targeting the reestablishment of the natural landscape and fulfilling an entire urban regeneration, turning Hangang Park into a major urban and ecological landmark for the city of Seoul, to be used throughout all seasons.

The proposal unifies the pool complex with the surrounding cultural facilities. On the West, the Sagak Sagak Artistic Area, and on the East, the Botanical Learning Center. The plan connects those 3 facilities through a system of meandering interweaved pedestrian paths, allowing easy pedestrian accessibility between all of them, transforming the entire riverfront into a prominent public natural destination.

The joint proposal draws its inspiration from Taegeuk, the traditional Korean symbol which can be found in the National Flag of South Korea, as a very honored, loyal illustrative and recognizable shape. A perfect circle split in two halves, red & blue, representing the balance in the universe.

The search for this balance between nature & architecture, is the core of our design, translating the Taegeuk into a circular architectural object, a pedestrian walkway that encloses the main pool facility. This circular walkway is interrupted at the riverbank, hovering over the river, a belvedere allowing amazing views over the Hang River.

Curving upwards towards the highway, the elevated pedestrian walkway shields the pools from the traffic noise, and accommodates necessary indoor facilities under its roof at the same time. It flattens at the intersection with the riverfront promenade, in order to ease pedestrian connectivity; and finally, it protrudes over the riverbank, creating two walkable piers overlooking both, the river and the restored nature of the riverbank.

The undulating intertwined pedestrian paths create opportunities and affordances for the park’s public program. Programmatic interventions for entertainment and leisure spaces within the natural environment are envisioned, offering valuable interactions with nature. Spaces for practicing a wide range of sports, resting areas, shading structures and natural kids playscapes, resulting in a multifunctional park suitable for all kind of ages.

All pools are designed in a sustainable way to naturally clean its water by using a helophyte filtering system with reeds planted around the pools. The treatment of cleaning the water is naturally done by bacteria living in the roots of the planted reeds.

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