Soeul, Korea has transformed a former inner-city highway into a 983-metre long Skygarden and it accommodates the biggest variety of plants. The project, Seoullo 7017, is designed by MVRDV. MVRDV is an architecture design firm founded by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries base in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Their innovative contemporary design focus on providing solutions for urban issues. The firm’s creative approach vary from designing buildings from all types of sizes to urban planning, publications, installations, and exhibitions. Their goal is to solve environmental issues and build eco-cities that leads us into a better future.
The translation for Seoullo means ‘towards Seoul’ and ‘Seoul Street’. The number 7017, combines the year 1970 when the inner highway was built with the year 2017 where it is transformed into the Skygarden. It’s objective is to make the central station district greener and more attractive while connecting a range of areas. The project has the biggest variation of Korean plants – 645 tree pots collecting 228 species and sub-species. In total, 24,000 plants (trees, shrubs, and flowers) were seeded and will flourish in the park throughout the next decade.
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The park is arranged according to the Korean alphabet and each garden has it’s own unique composition, aroma, colour, and identity. As the season changes, it also blossoms differently and even has trees bearing fruits in the summer. In the next decade, it will not only be a sky garden but also an ‘urban nursery’. The plants grown in each section are both physically and visually related to the neighbourhoods underneath. This park aims to boost park activities and city engagement on both cultural and commercial levels.
Here is an introduction to how the park is being utilized:
