METAPOLIS Complex

Hwasung Dongtan, Korea

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As the first phase of new city planning for Hwasung, the competition of a central mixed-use district embarked on. It is comprised of housings, hotel, venture hotel, health center, urban entertainment center, department store, shopping center, media center, academy center, science center, cultural center, and power center. The main intention was how to provide identity to buildings and create specific space in a huge urban complex. We convert each program into various design; a media center as a unique landmark, individual high-rise housings on top of glass box, a hotel with colorful windows, a shopping mall with 4 different courtyards and entrances, and a department store with distinct volume. These diverse buildings are seated on a podium, which has similar height to offer minimum ‘datum’ to complex. The landscape scheme is made of three parts: central park, four corners, and the housing podium. Since the complex has many high-rise buildings, the view from the roof is very crucial. The central park is designed as the theme of ‘castle’ and ‘stream’ which is the meaning for the city of Hwasung. Four different artists’ works are located on the each corner responding the character of street. The roof of podium is planned using the concept of ‘Bo-ja-ki’, a Korean traditional wrapping cloth.

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