Korean developer DreamHub conceived of this new business district as an ensemble of residential and office towers of different heights, some of which are twin towers (but they are considered one building). According to Daniel Libeskind's master plan, they are grouped around the tallest building - Triple One (620 m) by Renzo Piano. A park designed by Martha Schwartz will be created between the buildings, and a large shopping center will be arranged underground.
Despite the fact that so far only preliminary designs of individual buildings are ready, Yongsang is slated for completion in 2016 - if all goes well. In the meantime, the plan is striking in its ambitiousness: it develops the pre-crisis typology of "architectural collection", usually applicable to villa complexes, etc., to unheard-of proportions. In addition to huge areas (plot area 56.5 hectares, total area of the complex - 3.34 million m2) and financial investments (budget 28 billion dollars), we are talking about sometimes very bold from an engineering point of view projects of skyscrapers created by the "stars" of world architecture …
We have already talked about the projects of MVRDV, BIG and Adrian Smith. Now, the public was presented with eight more towers, and in front - at least 5 more high-rise buildings.
The already mentioned
Piano building is a 620-meter multifunctional complex with a base diameter of 76 m and a summit of 22 m. Its organic outlines remind of a more uniform design by the author of the master plan, Libeskind. The latter designed two buildings in Yongsang: a 46-story office building-crystal Harmony Tower and three meandering "Dancing Towers" (each 41 stories high; there will be a total of 834 apartments in this residential complex).
The almost 300-meter high skyscraper The Blade by Dominique Perrault with offices and business infrastructure - in the plan of a rhombus, which makes its two edges sharp, reminiscent of a blade. The curtain walls have a rhombic pattern.
Diagonal Tower of SOM is also an office building (343 m high, 62 floors) with a faceted façade, into which a load-bearing "mega-frame" is built, which made it possible to do without supports in the interiors.
Housing
The YIBD block C1-20 with a "modest" height of 165 m was designed by Kendzo Tange's son Paul Tange and his bureau Tange Associates. There are planned educational institutions, medical institutions, an exhibition complex, a large fitness center and other facilities necessary for the new district.
Twin residential towers
Pentominium (height 320 m) by Helmut Jan are connected at the level of the peaks with an openwork canopy. The small thickness of each of them provides good illumination of the interior, and also limits the number of apartments on the floor from 1 to 4 (depending on the wishes of the customers). Outside, the facades are covered with lattice screens, which make it possible to arrange balconies, terraces, bay windows and winter gardens between them and the walls of the towers.
Building
Project R6 bureau REX, unlike the Yang Towers, is not elite, but simply expensive housing for short-term residents: young professionals working in Seoul for foreigners, etc. Apartment sizes range from 40 m2 (most) to 60 m2, but thanks to an elongated structure with a courtyard, terraces and "modules" for communication and play, a comfortable environment is created there. With the help of an efficient façade with panoramic glazing and an atrium, the apartments have received through ventilation and natural light (which can be controlled using internal blinds).
Each of the towers in Yongsang has a podium with shops, restaurants, etc., serving as a "passage" to the underground mall.
On the official website of the region, you can see 5 more projects, a detailed publication of which can be expected in the near future. These are the skyscrapers of Coop Himmelb (l) ay, Asymptote, 5 + Design, KPF and Riken Yamamoto.
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Additional illustrations can be found on the tower design pages (see links in text).
