According to the Oxford Dictionary – or the Cambridge for that matter – a campus is “the buildings of a university or college and the land around them.” In the typical image that illustrates this definition the “land around them” is often a generous stretch of green land and the buildings a collection of politely distanced architectural objects. That is the case in Oxford. And Cambridge. And also for many campuses in Korea. The Hongik Seoul Campus, however, is different. Built in the 1950s on the slopes of the Wau Mountain in Seoul, it has been rapidly saturated with buildings, reaching the limits of expansion. “The land around them” hardly exists today. It has become “the land between them.”
That’s not to say there is no quality in Hongik. Its seemingly random arrangement of buildings and outdoor spaces has cultivated a culture of appropriating space, of generating new habitats for arts and science. Over time, this culture has expanded beyond the campus into the nearby Hongdae district, known today for its spontaneous performances, energy and nightlife. Today the relation between the campus and the city is under threat by its most recent additions that limit the physical connections between the two. But fortunately for the campus’s future, an open field at the foot of the mountain, quasi-unbuilt, has been made available for construction by a new planning ordinance from the Seoul Metropolitan Government – an opportunity to turn Hongik into a campus ‘by the book’, or simply continue its logic of densification?
Our design does both: It brings the missing green and maximizes the campus’ built-up area. Conceived as a natural extension of the Wau Mountain, the new addition is situated below the ground. The buildings’ rooftops form a network of paths sheltered by trees, which connect the campus’ main access points with the adjacent neighborhood of Hongdae. In-between, courtyards bring light deep into the buildings and establish unexpected connections, creating a continuous sequence of outdoor spaces.
Programmatically, the project is organized as follows. A new art center, situated at the campus’ core, serves as a bridge to merge culture and education. A ring-shaped, multipurpose learning hub directly connects the new addition to the surrounding faculty buildings. The remaining buildings are grouped in three sectors: high-tech labs, close to the Engineering Faculty; amenities at the center; and maker spaces near Hongdae. At the level of the neighborhood, a central floor with public amenities runs through all buildings, inviting visitors inside, and allowing one to move up or down no more than three floors. It is the place where Hongik and Hongdae blend once again.
Team:
Partner: Chris van Duijn
Associate: Ravi Kamisetti
Competition team: Ken Fung, Felicia Gambino, Xaveer Roodbeen, Jae Seung David Koo, Hyun Keun Im, Yi Fei Yuan
Local Architects: dA Architecture Group
Façade: VSA
Structure, MEP and Sustainability: Arup Hong Kong
Landscape: Office Parkkim
Visualization: Negativ
Model: OMA and RJ Models
