Town of the Rings – New Self-Sustainable Town in Korea
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Surrounded by a picturesque lake and forested hills, Korea is set to create a sustainable township which will be a self sufficient city of 77,000 inhabitants, to be located about 22 miles (35 kilometers) south of Seoul, South Korea. Called Gwanggyo, all elements of the new town will be designed as rings so that each part of the program has a terrace for outdoor life.
Expected to be completed by 2011, the architectural design consists of a series of overgrown hill shaped buildings to target high urban density and further developments around the Gwanggyo Power Center, one of the two envisioned centers of the future new town.
“This diverse program has different needs for phasing, positioning and size.” say Dutch architects MVRDV, who won the competition for the Gwanggyo City Centre.
“To facilitate this all elements are designed as rings. By pushing these rings outwards, every part of the program receives a terrace for outdoor life.”
As a result, a landscape is created that resembles a series of overgrown green ‘hills.’
The Korean township promotes a healthy living space with plantations around the terraces with a floor to floor circulation system that stores water and irrigates the plants. The roofs and terraces are planted with box hedges creating a vertical park which will improve the climate and ventilation, reduce energy and water usage.
Atriums within each tower create lobbies for housing and offices, retail plazas for the shopping centre, halls for the museum, leisure areas and education spaces.
The shifting of the floors creates hollow cores that form the large atriums. In each tower a series of ‘voids’ connect to the atrium to provide light and ventilation, creating semi-public spaces.
The atriums are connected on the lower floors through a string of public spaces on various levels, linking the towers and serving the outdoor facilities of the culture, retail, and leisure program.
Local nodes with a high density concentration of mixed program have been used in Korean town planning since the beginning of the millennium.
Surrounded by a lake and hilly woodland, the scenic design of the new city center aims to create a unique landscape that enlarges the green qualities and surrounding parks by turning the site into a park.
Location of Gwanggyo
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where will the sewage storage and rubbish tip be?
Good question, George. Nothing was mentioned in that regard by the designers, but being a self-sustaining town, it will definitely need to be addressed at some point.
How cool is that, ‘eh?
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what an awesome idea ! this is a grand design. by self sustainable, I take it they will make their own electricity also?
The beauty of such a town could be breath taking. I would truly want to see it when it’s done, as a tourist.
Tom
The site looks nice but I also have the same question like George?
well george We are laso looking for drainage system how is it possible to leave without basic neccessity.
Very, Chana
Yes, being a self-sustaining town, they will create their own power at the ‘Gwanggyo Power Station.’
There are all sorts of issues that will be addressed, I’m sure, Moumita. This is simply the initial concept stage that’s been accepted thus far.
What a really great idea. I believe living there would be so wonderful, but I guess it won’t be cheap living there. What a pity such building aren’t planned in my country. Would love to live there.
Deborah, I think this Korea Town of The Rings is way better than the Dubai’s skycrapers, as it has combined the eco-green concepts into it…
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It’s difficult to say what costs would be like living there, as it is Korea, Jessica. I think many of us are used to the notion that anything green costs more. But the benefits are typically worth it in the long run.
Nearly everything is done in grandeur style in epic proportions in Dubai, Wilson. It would certainly be nice to see something green like this being implemented there for a change.
It’s an interesting concept that I see happening more and more. There is even an EcoVillage being built in Cleveland (near me) right now. We obviously can’t go on the way we are, so it’s good to see people thinking outside of the box.
I believe that’s an awsome idea, that should be done all over the world, but somehow it looks really funny and somehow very futuristic. Can’t wait to travel there, when it’s done. Would be a really cool place to relax, but I believe it would be very expensive. Thnx for this article.
I think i have become a little jaded.I look at the picture and i imagine gallons of herbicides and pesticides being used on the lovely greenery.Also regular pest control sweeps to make sure there are no pigeons,cats,children etc.
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This is really nothing new. Many years back many farms in the United States were almost wholly self-sufficent. I recall as a very young boy growing up in the rural south, that my grandfathers farm had practically everything we needed. We produced practically all we needed, the water, food and in those days no electricy, but it was not needed. We did not however have a source for salt–simple as that sounds. The trips into town were generally only once a month and then mostly to sell eggs and butter and other things raised on the farm. Life was really great in those days. Recall sitting on my grandfather lap on saturday night and him turning on the large battery powered radio and listening to the Grand Ole Opery. Times have certainly changed.
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This looks beautiful, however many details are not shown. For example: transportation systems, business district, schools, power lines, water treatment facility, etc.
copied from the project (2003) tpd&a Belgium http://www.tpda.be/TPDA/Projects/Pages/Osaka_Suspended_Gardens.html
Self-sustainable?
So they’ll produce their own food? Clothes? Utilities? Everything? No? What about energy? I don’t see that working.
A farm can be self-sufficient, but a whole town? Heck, 77,000 inhabitants, that already counts as a small city. Impossible to be self-sufficient.
Another useless hype based on the global warming lie.
This is a neat concept. Looks like a high-rise paddy field! Is this really a project that’s going to go ahead? And do they completely generate all theire own energy and other resources? I have thought about the notion of all houses having grass on the rooves. Why not?
very nice but i think it kinda odd
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Wow, I am going to have to get my friends in Korea to tell me how it all works out!
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very good pics.
It is a different architecture and original. The buildings will be nice because of the plants.
The picturesque is great and architecture is mainly concentrated on maintaining the ecological balance.Modern architects understood the green concept and know how to benefit from it.The green concept saves lots of money,you can save huge on electricity bills,etc.Though deforestation continues we may find some little forests in the middle of the cities.Kudos to the modern architecture.kitchen mixer taps