A new mixed development area will be built on the banks of the Hangang River. Buildings and entire neighborhoods will be scattered like islands connected to each other, among a huge park, which is why the project was named "Archipelago 21".
In addition to residential buildings, office complexes and shopping centers, buildings of various cultural and educational institutions will be erected on the territory of the district, as well as a system of high-speed public transport.
The main part of the development will be high-rise buildings grouped in an arc: their height will increase from its ends to the center. In total, the construction of the business center will occupy an area of 315 hectares, and the project budget will amount to $ 20 billion.
Libeskind's victory in this major architectural competition can be considered a kind of compensation for his master plan of the New York WTC, which was practically destroyed by developers: if until recently his concept of building on the site of the destroyed twin towers was generally preserved, now this has been put to an end. The towers designed by Norman Foster and Richard Rogers (buildings 2 and 3) will be many times lower than originally intended. However, the implementation of the Fumihiko Maki skyscraper (building 4; 72 floors) has already begun successfully. Thus, the spiral of 5 buildings conceived by Libeskind (we are not talking about the construction of Tower No. 5 at all) of increasing height, completed by the Freedom Tower (541 m), has actually ceased to exist.
Also in Seoul, compared to New York, the implementation timeline is much closer: construction is planned to begin in 2011, and the Foster and Rogers towers in the WTC complex will be built by 2026 and 2037, respectively.
