According to DongA Ilbo ("Building a landmark pedestrian bridge" - 20110720), Seoul authorities want to link Apgujeong with Seoul Forest via a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Han river.
Seongsu-dong (Seongdong-gu) and Apgujeong-dong (Gangnam-gu) are already connected through the Seongsu Bridge, but this doomed structure (it collapsed in 1994) was rebuilt at a time when humans and bicycles were not priorities. Hangang riversides have since grown parks and bike lanes, and prolonging the Jungnangcheon riversides to the South makes sense... but the operation looks like yet another gift from City Hall to Gangnam speculators.
Apgujeong marked the triumph of the 'apateu' model: the Park Chung-hee government partly sponsored the moving of part of the country's elite to the newly erected apartment blocks fourty years ago, and all of a sudden the general public, unaware of the trick, reconsidered apartment blocks as a symbol of success. Before, people saw them as soulless dwellings for the masses. The trick also radically changed the image of Gangnam, a land recently claimed over rice paddies that Gangbuk elites despised. After that, all 'nouveaux riches' started to migrate South, and all Seoulites to embrace the 'apateu' system.
Even now, Apgujeong-dong remains the epitome of Gangnam bling. Commoners, who already found it hard to swallow that these blocks had more or less privatized the accesses to Hangang riversides, reacted vehemently when the city authorized the replacement of this old generation of apartments with 50-story-high blocks (the only way owners could expect fat profits from the sale of their already bubble-blown properties). Now this: a KRW 100 bn bridge financed 50% by the city and 50% by the same local residents?
I don't see this "Dream Bridge" being built, unless there's a radical change in Apgujeong-dong redevelopment plans:
- covering Olympic Expressway
- opening the new and improved waterfront to bikes and pedestrians from all sides
- public infrastructures and mixed use of land instead of a high end residential ghetto
More likely, Seoul will find a compromise and ask for big concessions from land owners if they want to grow higher than 30 stories.
Seoul Village 2011
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Showing posts with label Seongdong-gu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seongdong-gu. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Salgotyi Bridge
Researchers from Hanyang University will dig under the pier and along the piles of Salgotyi Bridge (Salgotyi Dari / 살곶이 다리), hoping to find artifacts from the early Joseon dynasty at the very feet of their own university.
Officially called Cheongok Bridge (Cheongokgyo / 천곡교) today, this most particular structure on the Jungnangcheon links the Northern and Southern halves of Seongdong-gu.
I say "most particular" for three reasons : this bridge is unnecessarily long, drawing a diagonal instead of the shortest cut, it's a rather odd feature in a strange place, and it's a very very old fellow.
Why this odd angle ? Maybe Salgotyi is just pointing towards Bukhansan for good karma. Maybe the diagonal reduces the risks of destruction when the stream grows stronger. After all, it was built after an important junction : here, Cheonggyecheon joins Jungnangcheon, which continues Westwards along Seongsu (now home to Seoul Forest) until it reaches the Han river.
Why the strange atmosphere ? This waterway-crossroad is doubled with and almost hidden by a highway-crossroad, and tripled with a railway-crossroad - most people drive by without noticing it, trying not to miss their exits or connections.
- the Southern "riverside" is completely covered by Dongbu Expressway : eight lanes of heavy traffic along the Jungnangcheon
- to the North, Cheonggyecheon's mouth exposes a few rotten teeth (concrete blocks probably meant to break the current where both streams merge)
- until recently the stream was covered with concrete until the end, but another elevated highway was built, covering this mouth with two gigantic arms : Naebu Expressway reaching for Dongbu Expressway, one two-lane-bridge for each direction.
- the "cheek" East of Cheonggyecheon's mouth (Yongdap-dong) is a vast industrial nightmare : a subway car depot, a water treatment plant
- the Western cheek used to be basically a wasteland : the University's backyard under Sageun-dong-gil
- like a Fu Manchu mustache on this disgracious face, Subway line splits over two bridges : Seongdong Bridge for the junction between Hanyang University Station and Ttukseom Station, Jangan Railway Bridge the Songsu Station - Yongdap Station link
... and like a fragile caterpillar at the feet of giant concrete bridges with their impressive piles, a very narrow and flat bridge stretches its small legs (only one meter above the water). From a distance and given the environment, it looks like a derelict concrete structure, waiting to be removed, but Salgotyi Dari was built with stones in 1483 (14th year of King Seongjong rule). During the XXth century, floods damaged the structure and concrete add-ons, but original piles remain.
This monument is already protected, but excavations could cast a new light in this previously forsaken area. Because believe it or not, if you put aside the two expressways, the situation has dramatically improved in the area :
. First, Cheonggyecheon restoration changed the mouth of the stream, now covered with vegetation particularly on its Eastern cheek... where the water treatment plant will be replaced by a big public park.
. The "teeth" breaking the current under the elevated highway host flocks of ducks and cranes which apparently find plenty of food to fish.
. The wasteland on the Western cheek became Salgotyi Park, a small sports complex for local residents.
. New bicycles lanes are full of bikers who can ride along Cheonggyecheon up to Yongdu-dong (Dongdaemun-gu), and all along Jungnangcheon from Dobong-gu / Nowon-gu to the Hangang bike network.
. Just a few hectometers west of Salgotyi Bridge, riverside grows much wider and greener, and the lane passes at the feet of Eungbong-dong hill, with its pagoda on the top and its beautiful colors in the spring or autumn.
. ...
Of course, the overwhelming feeling remains : the place looks more like a dump than a cultural / environmental hotspot. Because Seoul did the same mistake in the early 2000s as it did thirty years before : covering the city with more highways instead of finding more sustainable ways of commuting people.
More lanes are being added up North on the same Jungnangcheon and that's a shame as Seoul must prepare to reduce the number of cars intra-muros. That's a moral and environmental obligation, but also a demographical inevitability.
Maybe there's a pattern in oblique ways to join mainstream.
Seoul Village 2009
Officially called Cheongok Bridge (Cheongokgyo / 천곡교) today, this most particular structure on the Jungnangcheon links the Northern and Southern halves of Seongdong-gu.
I say "most particular" for three reasons : this bridge is unnecessarily long, drawing a diagonal instead of the shortest cut, it's a rather odd feature in a strange place, and it's a very very old fellow.
Why this odd angle ? Maybe Salgotyi is just pointing towards Bukhansan for good karma. Maybe the diagonal reduces the risks of destruction when the stream grows stronger. After all, it was built after an important junction : here, Cheonggyecheon joins Jungnangcheon, which continues Westwards along Seongsu (now home to Seoul Forest) until it reaches the Han river.
Why the strange atmosphere ? This waterway-crossroad is doubled with and almost hidden by a highway-crossroad, and tripled with a railway-crossroad - most people drive by without noticing it, trying not to miss their exits or connections.
- the Southern "riverside" is completely covered by Dongbu Expressway : eight lanes of heavy traffic along the Jungnangcheon
- to the North, Cheonggyecheon's mouth exposes a few rotten teeth (concrete blocks probably meant to break the current where both streams merge)
- until recently the stream was covered with concrete until the end, but another elevated highway was built, covering this mouth with two gigantic arms : Naebu Expressway reaching for Dongbu Expressway, one two-lane-bridge for each direction.
- the "cheek" East of Cheonggyecheon's mouth (Yongdap-dong) is a vast industrial nightmare : a subway car depot, a water treatment plant
- the Western cheek used to be basically a wasteland : the University's backyard under Sageun-dong-gil
- like a Fu Manchu mustache on this disgracious face, Subway line splits over two bridges : Seongdong Bridge for the junction between Hanyang University Station and Ttukseom Station, Jangan Railway Bridge the Songsu Station - Yongdap Station link
... and like a fragile caterpillar at the feet of giant concrete bridges with their impressive piles, a very narrow and flat bridge stretches its small legs (only one meter above the water). From a distance and given the environment, it looks like a derelict concrete structure, waiting to be removed, but Salgotyi Dari was built with stones in 1483 (14th year of King Seongjong rule). During the XXth century, floods damaged the structure and concrete add-ons, but original piles remain.
This monument is already protected, but excavations could cast a new light in this previously forsaken area. Because believe it or not, if you put aside the two expressways, the situation has dramatically improved in the area :
. First, Cheonggyecheon restoration changed the mouth of the stream, now covered with vegetation particularly on its Eastern cheek... where the water treatment plant will be replaced by a big public park.
. The "teeth" breaking the current under the elevated highway host flocks of ducks and cranes which apparently find plenty of food to fish.
. The wasteland on the Western cheek became Salgotyi Park, a small sports complex for local residents.
. New bicycles lanes are full of bikers who can ride along Cheonggyecheon up to Yongdu-dong (Dongdaemun-gu), and all along Jungnangcheon from Dobong-gu / Nowon-gu to the Hangang bike network.
. Just a few hectometers west of Salgotyi Bridge, riverside grows much wider and greener, and the lane passes at the feet of Eungbong-dong hill, with its pagoda on the top and its beautiful colors in the spring or autumn.
. ...
Of course, the overwhelming feeling remains : the place looks more like a dump than a cultural / environmental hotspot. Because Seoul did the same mistake in the early 2000s as it did thirty years before : covering the city with more highways instead of finding more sustainable ways of commuting people.
More lanes are being added up North on the same Jungnangcheon and that's a shame as Seoul must prepare to reduce the number of cars intra-muros. That's a moral and environmental obligation, but also a demographical inevitability.
Maybe there's a pattern in oblique ways to join mainstream.
Seoul Village 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wangsimni Old Town
Most buildings have been evacuated now. Some have already lost all window frames, exposing their skull with empty sockets staring at nothing. Large plastic drapes cover the first row to prevent people from trespassing or ghosts from leaving the area.
Yet, I almost prefer that state of redevelopment to the previous one, when human beings roam lifeless streets, when only a few merchants remain open to get the most from compensation schemes, even if only a few customers dare pass by. That's the actual ghost town.
But this process starts much earlier, with the first rumors of redevelopment. Unfortunately, that's the case of every single "dong" of Seoul which is not already redevelopped. That feeling of upcoming disappearance motivated this excuse of a site : Seoul Village is about witnessing a city at a turning point, wondering if its very soul can survive such a titanic trauma.
Wangsimni New Town (왕십리 뉴타운) remains far from delivery, and I've been keeping track of the changes in the area over the years, with a focus on the core to be reborn as a "New Town" : Sangwansimni-dong, Hawangsimni-dong, and the section of Hongik-dong which completes this 337,000 m² losange.
The frontiers are easily recognizable :
- to the North : Cheonggyecheon, and beyond Dongdaemun-gu
- to the South : Wangsimni-gil (the road followed by subway line 2, leading to the West towards the Uljiro / Toegyero fork, and to the East towards the Seongdong Bridge)
- to the West : Nagyero (the street leading towards Sinseol-dong Station), and beyond Jung-gu
- to the East : Muhakno, the street between Sangwangsimni Station and Anam Ogori, named after Muhak, the monk who selected the location of the future capital for the King.
While I'm at it, I recently mentioned the origin of the name "Wangsimni" as the "royal ten li" or the minimum distance separating the palace from the first burial sites (see "Eunpyeong New Town, Old Tombs"), but another version exists featuring this monk : according to the legend, Muhak would have met a peasant in this very site and asked him where the ideal location for a royal palace would be. The peasant would have answered, pointing towards Bugaksan, "10 more li", which also sounds like "wangsimni". This version is probably too nice to be true. I think the truth must... lie somewhere between both versions. And I can almost imagine, somewhen AFTER the selection of the location for the palace, a place to eat and rest at what must have been a crossroads, and its owner used to telling travellers "to the King ? Ten more li". Who knows ? He could even have named his auberge that way after a while. Decades later, his memory long gone but the name stuck to what became a village, old timers would decide to twist Muhak's tale, merely transforming their Wangsimni into the birthplace of Hanyang. My guess ? They invented that story precisely because the expression wangsimni as "royal ten li" became too popular, bringing bad vibes to a place which had nothing to do with a graveyard.
Whatever. Neither Muhak nor those fabled old timers would recognise Wangsimni New Town : a tower field boasting 5,000 households, 14,000 souls, brand new schools, and very much needed public infrastructures around 3 blocks. The only features reminiscent of the Wangsimni I knew will be the two axis cutting through the losange : Majangno in its center (that's the road parallel to the stream), and the smaller street (vertical except for its last diagonal section) going down to Biudang Bridge.
Construction shall start in March 2010. Actual destruction ? That was a long time ago.
Seoul Village 2009
Yet, I almost prefer that state of redevelopment to the previous one, when human beings roam lifeless streets, when only a few merchants remain open to get the most from compensation schemes, even if only a few customers dare pass by. That's the actual ghost town.
But this process starts much earlier, with the first rumors of redevelopment. Unfortunately, that's the case of every single "dong" of Seoul which is not already redevelopped. That feeling of upcoming disappearance motivated this excuse of a site : Seoul Village is about witnessing a city at a turning point, wondering if its very soul can survive such a titanic trauma.
Wangsimni New Town (왕십리 뉴타운) remains far from delivery, and I've been keeping track of the changes in the area over the years, with a focus on the core to be reborn as a "New Town" : Sangwansimni-dong, Hawangsimni-dong, and the section of Hongik-dong which completes this 337,000 m² losange.
The frontiers are easily recognizable :
- to the North : Cheonggyecheon, and beyond Dongdaemun-gu
- to the South : Wangsimni-gil (the road followed by subway line 2, leading to the West towards the Uljiro / Toegyero fork, and to the East towards the Seongdong Bridge)
- to the West : Nagyero (the street leading towards Sinseol-dong Station), and beyond Jung-gu
- to the East : Muhakno, the street between Sangwangsimni Station and Anam Ogori, named after Muhak, the monk who selected the location of the future capital for the King.
While I'm at it, I recently mentioned the origin of the name "Wangsimni" as the "royal ten li" or the minimum distance separating the palace from the first burial sites (see "Eunpyeong New Town, Old Tombs"), but another version exists featuring this monk : according to the legend, Muhak would have met a peasant in this very site and asked him where the ideal location for a royal palace would be. The peasant would have answered, pointing towards Bugaksan, "10 more li", which also sounds like "wangsimni". This version is probably too nice to be true. I think the truth must... lie somewhere between both versions. And I can almost imagine, somewhen AFTER the selection of the location for the palace, a place to eat and rest at what must have been a crossroads, and its owner used to telling travellers "to the King ? Ten more li". Who knows ? He could even have named his auberge that way after a while. Decades later, his memory long gone but the name stuck to what became a village, old timers would decide to twist Muhak's tale, merely transforming their Wangsimni into the birthplace of Hanyang. My guess ? They invented that story precisely because the expression wangsimni as "royal ten li" became too popular, bringing bad vibes to a place which had nothing to do with a graveyard.
Whatever. Neither Muhak nor those fabled old timers would recognise Wangsimni New Town : a tower field boasting 5,000 households, 14,000 souls, brand new schools, and very much needed public infrastructures around 3 blocks. The only features reminiscent of the Wangsimni I knew will be the two axis cutting through the losange : Majangno in its center (that's the road parallel to the stream), and the smaller street (vertical except for its last diagonal section) going down to Biudang Bridge.
Construction shall start in March 2010. Actual destruction ? That was a long time ago.
Seoul Village 2009
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
25h Myeonok
Wanghimni Newtown will not rise before a few more years. Yet, the area is changing at a very quick pace, starting from Wangshimni Station. Just like with Cheonggyecheon, many shops adopted the same system of wooden signs, masking the ugly old buildings behind. New constructions are already changing the main street, internal franchises and banks tend to multiply.25si Meyonok is not likely to disappear that soon. This small noodle specialist offers a fake traditional decor but a very good, simple and cheap sujebi (수제비 also writen Sujoebi or Sujeobi after its sujeop-bi origin).
25H Myeonok / 25시면옥 (restaurant)
286-4 Haengdong-dong, Seongdong-gu, SEOUL, ROK
Tel : +82.2.2297.8522
Seoul Village 2008
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