H+N+S Landschapsarchitecten

In 2007, H+N+S participated in an international design competition for a river park area of 800 hectares in Korea. The park forms the “green heart” of the country’s Multifunctional Administrative City, now under development. The Geum-Gang River is the “blue” artery of the Ring City’s Green Heart. The chain of hills with its peaks forms a green ecological and landscape corridor through the Ring City and across the river.

River Panorama is the H+N+S concept for the city’s central open space. It makes up about a third of the total Green Heart of the Ring City. The other major entities in this Green Heart are the hilly landscapes around Wonsubong and Jeonwolsan peaks. These two components are related. Together they form a single landscape and nature park on the forested hills. We propose giving each part of the Green Heart a distinct character. River Panorama (the central open space) is a park landscape where intensive use meets nature. The path network through the Ring Park is related entirely to the water: lake, river landscape and waterfront. The hills around Wonsubong are a natural landscape with a path network which is related to cultural and landscape history.

The River Panorama concept has three parts.

1. A “belt” in the form of a ring-shaped urban park follows the inner edge of the Ring City and enjoys a broad view of the river Geum-Gang.
2. A sharp demarcation in the form of a long, elevated riverbank forms the common architectural backbone of the terrace park and the ring park.
3. A large terraced park landscape on lower-lying land is also available to the city.

Multistorey car parks are available for visitors to the parks and to the urban amenities near the park boundaries. There is a Green Heart cable-car across the river and the wetland wood in the direction of the Jeonwolsan hills. There is also a fast ferry along the Ring City waterfront on the southern bank of the Geum-Gang River.