Skygarden, Seoul

Located in the heart of Seoul, a veritable “plant village” transforms the decommissioned inner city highway into Seoullo 7017’s Skygarden, an ever-changing urban aerial park with a vast variation of Korean plant species. This 983-metre long public park boasts over 50 different families of flora fit out in 645 tree pots, in a collection that includes roughly 228 species. This pedestrianised viaduct represents a pivotal step in the city centre’s transition to greener, more accommodating and attractive public spaces. It is part of a larger strategy physically connecting all of the pockets of urban greenery in the wider area.

From the start, MVRDV engaged with the need to change this infrastructural element into a green symbol, changing the image of the city centre of Seoul. Seoullo connects the city dwellers with the nature. It is an educational arboretum and a nursery for future species. The park is populated by 16 small pavilions such as cafes, shops, exhibitions, gardener’s pavilions, trampolines, foot bath, stage and children’s theatre and information centre as well. They enhance the experience of the users, boosting the park with extra fun activities that engage the city on a cultural and commercial level.

Seoullo is intended to boost the urban regeneration process of the surrounding area.  Since completion of construction, neighbouring buildings directly connected to the raised pedestrian park have enjoyed significant success on the real estate market. For instance, Daewoo Foundation & Hotel Manu transformed their ground floor levels into commercial functions and they have now become neighbourhood hot spots. Other owners now want to connect their properties to Seoullo, especially considering recent research that projects that connection to the bridge can increase property values by up to 10-15%. To mitigate gentrification processes that often follow the development of successful urban attractions such as Seoullo 7017, MVRDV is currently working alongside the Seoul Metropolitan Government & a Local NGO, to create the pedestrian network extension project. These pedestrian paths originate at Seoullo entrances and will facilitate bottom-up, human-scale, urban interventions. By preventing the replacement of existing area residents, both property value and quality of life increase.