Layers of Curiosity

Team Leader: 염상훈
Team Member: 연진철, 이수경, 킨모피예, 김세원

The ‘Layers of Curiosity’ blends the boundary between the city and the park to create an urban park providing memorable experience to visitors. It is a process of exchanging cultural values and creating a richness of culture. By incorporating Dok-do to the mainland of Korea, Yisabu expanded and blended the boundary between two interconnected countries. This incorporation is not only the expansion of the territory, but also it is a cultural expansion that merges the ‘Cultural Boundary.’ The proposal suggests the idea of blending boundaries by introducing different scenarios in the space. Circular walls are overlapping each other, and they are creating a multilayered intricate space. Visitors are exploring boundaries, experiencing layers of walls throughout the memorial park and the exhibition space.

<Open-ended Circular Street>

The proposal suggests an open-ended circular street which creates multiple layers of walls. This open-ended street gives more possibilities to encounter many activities like the situation of numerous alleys in many Asian cities. The overlapping circles create layers of circular walls and openings where various exciting activities can happen. The space can be used for pedestrians, exhibition area and gathering space. The walls continuously interact with visitors and programs. It is more than a simple wall.

The overlapping of circles and openings create unexpected curious and mysterious space that visitors are free to explore. The first layer, the outer layer, allows the memorial park to interact with the surrounding city. The second layer is within the park that visitors explore by walking one layer to the others with curiosity and hope of serendipity. The third layer is the destination for visitors after experiencing the two layers.

The proposal tries to conserve the idea of Jindongru as an east gate by creating Jindongru Circle. The walls generating the Jindongru Circle are reinterpreted with the similar material as Jindongru. Also, the silhouette and written explanation about Jindongru are decorated on the wall. Jindongru Circle continues the function of Jindongru by protecting the park, welcoming visitors and giving some guidelines to people.

The park is proposed to have various vegetation that will grow independently according to different seasons. The trees and plants are thoughtfully selected and distributed through the site. The color of the park keeps changing and express different identities everyday. Therefore, visitors will encounter with different scenery and atmosphere of the space whenever they visit the space. It is an extraordinary quality of experiencing and remembering a space that visitors can have their own unique memories based on what they see and meet. They will have a refreshing experience everytime they visit.

The proposal suggests preserving and regenerating the distinct heritage by integrating them with the new park. It encourages the existing independent residential buildings to be clustered together and reconfigured to have different programs such as workplace, exhibition area, and guesthouse. The design scheme is conducted by phases. Initially, a building unit is transformed to have a different function, and gradually different programs replace the existing residences, creating a new type of community. As a result, these units work as a unity, and their programs continue through the Culture and Art Village and the proposed Yisabu Memorial Park. The generated design provides with a new type of park by interconnecting the old village to the new memorial park and offering visitors opportunities to explore the coexistence of old and new.