Seoul Metropolitan Library Competition
Competition facilitator: Seoul Metropolitan Government Future Space Planning Division Urban Space Planning Officer
Type: International, open, two-stage
Languages: English, Korean
Eligibility: Team should have licensed architect
Fee: None
Timetable:
28 August 2023 – Competition launch
14 September 2023 – Registration deadline
5 September 2023 – Q&A deadline
26 September 2023 – Deadline for submissions
Process:
The design competition will consist of two phases. Phase 1 will evaluate the basic concept plan and spatial organization based on the aforementioned key requirements, and with a submission fee and additional time for winners selected in Phase 1, Phase 2 will select more advanced plans to implement the concepts. With a two-phase process, we hope to reduce the volume and cost of submissions in Phase 1, but still get original concepts, and concrete blueprints that can be realized in Phase 2
Design goals:
• A public library that aims to be the biggest and the best
• The site is a cultural facility site created as part of the development of the Jeonnong-Dapsimni Redevelopment Area, where large-scale apartment complexes are concentrated, and Cheongnyangni Station (Line 1, Gyeongui-Jungang, Bundang Line), Sindap Station (Line 2), Dapsimni Station (Line 5), Seoul National University, Cheonggyecheon Stream, and Dapsimni Park are located within a 1km radius. To meet the demand for cultural and green spaces in the area and to provide specialized and diversified library services befitting the status of Seoul as an international city, the new public library will be the largest in the country (site area: 16,899.30m2, gross floor area: 25,000m2) and aim to provide spaces and services of the highest quality.
• A community hub where people meet and knowledge is created
• The Seoul Public Library (Dongdaemun) (Tentative) aims to be a space where people encounter not only information but people, and where information is not only collected and preserved but knowledge, skills, and stories are produced and shared among people. Connecting information, people, and places across internal and external boundaries, the library of the future will function as an activity-oriented, boundaryless space open for anyone to use and interact with regardless of gender, generation, region, or disability, and function as an open community hub that creates programs with citizens.
• GLAM(Gallery, Library, Archive, Museum)
• The new library will be built as a gallery-library-archive-museum complex (GLAM) that offers a variety of program activities and services, such as exhibitions, performances, experiences, and education, centered on the functions of the Seoul Studies Archive and library, and will function as a smart center for integrated management of books and knowledge information across the city based on advanced technologies, including automated preservation libraries and book browsing robots.
• Sustainability for future generations
• A noteworthy requirement of the competition was the specification to use wooden structures in the main part of the building, and requiring flexibility of space to accommodate various activities as well as a plan to proactively utilize the external space. Through these requirements, the hope is that creative and challenging designs that do not just follow the manual, as well as innovative architecture that can reveal Seoul’s eco-friendly future vision will be realized, setting new precedents for future generations.
Expectations for the new competition method
With a two-phase process, we hope to reduce the volume and cost of submissions in Phase 1, but still get original concepts, and concrete blueprints that can be realized in Phase 2. With the excessive costs and irregularities of overheated design competitions, we hope that the competition will serve as a forward-thinking and sustainable way to drive a better design environment.
Shin Seung-soo, Head of Operation
For more information, go to:
|
Helsinki Central Library, by ALA Architects (2012-2018)
The world has experienced a limited number of open competitions over the past three decades, but even with diminishing numbers, some stand out among projects in their categories that can’t be ignored for the high quality and degree of creativity they revealed. Included among those are several invited competitions that were extraordinary in their efforts to explore new avenues of institutional and museum design. Some might ask why the Vietnam Memorial is not mentioned here. Only included in our list are competitions that were covered by us, beginning in 1990 with COMPETITIONS magazine to the present day. As for what category a project under construction (Science Island), might belong to or fundraising still in progress (San Jose’s Urban Confluence or the Cold War Memorial competition, Wisconsin), we would classify the former as “built” and wait and see what happens with the latter—keeping our fingers crossed for a positive outcome.
Read More…
Young Architects in Competitions
When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality
by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer
published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020
271 illustrations in color and black & white
Available in PDF and eBook formats
ISBN 9781988962047
What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset?
This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions.
Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link:
https://crc.umontreal.ca/en/publications-libre-acces/
RUR model perspective – ©RUR
New Kaohsiung Port and Cruise Terminal, Taiwan (2011-2020)
Reiser+Umemoto RUR Architecture PC/ Jesse Reiser – U.S.A.
with
Fei & Cheng Associates/Philip T.C. Fei –R.O.C. (Tendener)
This was probably the last international open competition result that was built in Taiwan. A later competition for the Keelung Harbor Service Building Competition, won by Neil Denari of the U.S., the result of a shortlisting procedure, was not built. The fact that the project by RUR was eventually completed—the result of the RUR/Fei & Cheng’s winning entry there—certainly goes back to the collaborative role of those to firms in winning the 2008 Taipei Pop Music Center competition, a collaboration that should not be underestimated in setting the stage for this competition.
Read more…
Winning entry ©Herzog de Meuron
In visiting any museum, one might wonder what important works of art are out of view in storage, possibly not considered high profile enough to see the light of day? In Korea, an answer to this question is in the making.
It can come as no surprise that museums are running out of storage space. This is not just the case with long established “western” museums, but elsewhere throughout the world as well. In Seoul, South Korea, such an issue has been addressed by planning for a new kind of storage facility, the Seouipul Open Storage Museum. The new institution will house artworks and artifacts of three major museums in Seoul: the Seoul Museum of Modern Art, the Seoul Museum of History, and the Seoul Museum of Craft Art.
Read more…
Belfast Looks Toward an Equitable and Sustainable Housing Model
Birdseye view of Mackie site ©Matthew Lloyd Architects
If one were to look for a theme that is common to most affordable housing models, public access has been based primarily on income, or to be more precise, the very lack of it. Here it is no different, with Belfast’s homeless problem posing a major concern. But the competition also hopes to address another of Belfast’s decades-long issues—its religious divide. There is an underlying assumption here that religion will play no part in a selection process. The competition’s local sponsor was “Take Back the City,” its membership consisting mainly of social advocates. In setting priorities for the housing model, the group interviewed potential future dwellers as well as stakeholders to determine the nature of this model. Among those actions taken was the “photo- mapping of available land in Belfast, which could be used to tackle the housing crisis. Since 2020, (the group) hosted seminars that brought together international experts and homeless people with the goal of finding solutions. Surveys and workshops involving local people, housing associations and council duty-bearers have explored the potential of the Mackie’s site.” This research was the basis for the competition launched in 2022.
Read more…
Alster Swimming Pool after restoration (2023)
Linking Two Competitions with Three Modernist Projects
Hardly a week goes by without the news of another architectural icon being threatened with demolition. A modernist swimming pool in Hamburg, Germany belonged in this category, even though the concrete shell roof had been placed under landmark status. When the possibility of being replaced by a high-rise building, it came to the notice of architects at von Gerkan Marg Partners (gmp), who in collaboration with schlaich bergermann partner (sbp), developed a feasibility study that became the basis for the decision to retain and refurbish the building.
Read more…
|
