Whereas international competitions for real projects have become a rarity lately, Korea is a welcome exception. Among the plethora of competition announcements we receive almost weekly, several have ended with foreign firms as winners. But the history of welcoming international participants does go back several years. One notable early example was the Incheon Airport competition, won by Fentress Bradburn Architects (1962-70).
Among the more recent successes of foreign firms was the Busan Opera House competition, won by Snøhetta (2013-) and the Sejong Museum Gardens competition, won by Office OU, Toronto (2016-2023).

 

 

Incheon Airport photo courtesy ©Fentress Architects

 

Busan Opera image courtesy ©Snøhetta

Sejong Museum Gardens Image courtesy ©Office OU

 

Heatherwick Studio claimed first place in the Global Art Island invited competition (2024) where the international jurors included Tom Mayne (USA), Bjarke Ingels (Denmark), and Ben van Berkel (Netherlands).

   
Global Art Island Competition Images courtesy ©Heatherwick Studio

 

Herzog de Meuron was awarded first place in the Seoripul Open Storage Museum competition, which was covered by us in detail (see: https://competitions.org/2023/12/seoripul-open-storage-museum-in-seoul/). Of the five expert jurors in the latter competition, Grace La (Harvard GSD, Professor), Cambridge, and Fernando Menis (Menis Arquitectos, Architect), Spain were two foreign jurors included on the five person panel. The winning team of the important Banpo-Hangang River Connection Park and Cultural Facility competition in Seoul was led by LEEON Architects, a firm with strong history and connections to Paris. The two outside jurors in that competition were Michael Speaks, Dean of the Syracuse University School of Architecture, and Jung Hyun-tae of the New York University of Technology (more on that later).

We find that the inclusion of foreign jurors to be a significant sign that outside participating firms can rest assured that their entries receive serious consideration. 

One website that lists numerous competitions, mainly located in Seoul, is Project Seoul (https://project.seoul.go.kr), where one can find any international competition also available in English. 

 

The Changdong Station Transit Center Competition

Although not limited to local participation, foreign presence in the Changdong Station Transit Center competition was hardly of consequence based on the list of the five finalists—all South Korean (A requirement that international firms collaborate with a local Korean firm to participate was not unusual).

 

Aerial view of Changdong Station competition site 

 

To any outside observer, mention in the competition brief that the names of jurors would not be released until the expiration of the registration period would certainly have given outsiders pause. Despite all this, the competition appeared to be well administered and the five finalists did reveal some solid, creative responses to the challenge, focusing on a mixed-use program in addition to its infrastructure requirements.

 

Evaluation Procedure

“As a result of the two rounds of the international design competition for the Changdong Station Intermodal Transit Centre, in-depth discussions were held, and the winning proposal was selected based on the objectives of the competition. The focus of the judging process was on the appropriateness of the transit system, the independence of the residential and office buildings and their interconnection at the lower floors, and the connection between the Seed Cube, Arena, and Jungnang Stream as the surrounding urban context. In addition, we believe that the judging process went smoothly due to the good preparation in advance to ensure fairness in the judging process.” -Jury Report

Observing the various finalist entries does show a number of intended (?) or unintended references to other projects. For instance, HAEAHN Architects second place design shows a prominent connector between their two buildings at a high level, similar to Cesar Pelli’s Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Eom & Lee’s third place winner was notable at grade level for its ramping, green reference to Elizabeth de Portzamparc’s Taichung high-rise in Taiwan, and DA Group’s fourth place winner’s atrium passage connector between their two buildings bears much similarity to several of Santiago Calatrava’s works, especially Toronto’s BCE Place Galleria. We might add that in all of those cases, these features did add much to their proposals. -Ed

 

Winners

1st Prize
Lee Kyung-hwan
D & B Partners Architects
Principal – Do Yeon Cho
Seoul, Korea

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

“A single tower that maximizes the utilization of the site and proposes efficient vertical zoning and circulation. The large-scale lines are sympathetic to a variety of cultural and urban needs. The exterior materials and somewhat excessive design need further refinement.” -Juror Jinwook Kim

“Well designed in an urban context with neighboring buildings and uses. The columns are also planned to be distinct and not overlap each other. However, there is a need to consider the implementation of the currently excluded shapes in relation to the facade and materials.” -Juror Seungyong Lee

“A single, complex but unified MASS scheme is presented to present a large open space adjacent to the SeedCube, effectively presenting a vibrant cityscape when accessed from adjacent facilities, including the Arena.” – Juror Jae Hong Lee

“Good interpretation of the cityscape, pedestrianised approach and landscape aspects. Good integration of non-building features into a single mass and clear movement system.” -Juror Kim Gyu Ran

“Placement of the bus stop on the east side of the bus station may increase the number of passengers on existing lines 1 and 4. GTX core and architecture will be integrated to cope with waiting room expansion. -Juror Seungjun Kim

“One Tower is the most faithful application of Tod’s concept in the design, and the fact that it responds to the complexity of the existing urban traffic in the plan and considers the relationship with the existing Seedcube as much as possible was evaluated as the most creative design in terms of urban landscape.” -Juror Oh Se Gyu

 

Unless otherwise noted, all images ©D & B Partners Architects

 

 

 

2nd Prize
HAEAHN Architects
with 
PAC Architects & Engineers / CEO (Max Sung Choi
ATEC Architects & Engineers / CEO (Sang Gil Kim)
Seoul, Korea

 

   

 

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, all images ©HAEAHN Architects

 

 

 

 

3rd Prize
Eom & Lee Engineering and Architecture
Seoul, Korea

 

   

 

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, all above images ©Eom & Lee Architecture and Engineering

 

 

4th Prize
DG Engineering & Architecture
with
The System Lab Architectural Firm / CEO (Lee Chung-ryeol)
Seoul, Korea

 

     

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, all above images ©DG Engineering and Architecture

 

 

5th Prize
Sangji Architects and Engineers
with
Architectural Firm Arcbody Co., Ltd./CEO (Kim Seong-han)
Seoul, Korea

 

 

   

 

Unless otherwise noted, all above images ©Sangji Architects and Engineers