Seoul Plaza in front of city hall is designed as a place where citizens can enjoy winter sports such as skating and curling from Christmas through February the following year.
Skating rink in Seoul Plaza has been used in the same design for the past four years. It was redesigned and opened last year (2018) through public architect proposal competition.

The difference between this year’s skating rink and the previous one is that it offers a “new structural alternative” that can be installed and recycled in a short time.
The initial idea started with a light structure of a vinyl house, but it was changed to a double air-dome system during the design process so that It could be reused or recycled easily in the following year.

Light architecture

Skating rink is an architecture that is only used for one season. Previous rinks have been repeatedly built and broken at the level of permanent structure.
We propose a skating rink as a light architecture. For this purpose, a new structural method was proposed to create space and shape, using light and transparent non-structural materials that could not be used in permanent structures.

The new air membrane structure

The roof of the skating rink was made up by a double air-membrane structure. The material of the structure is transparent laminated urethane and opaque laminated urethane which is flame retarded. Two layers of membranes inside and outside are pulled together by a tensile material (lightweight kernmantle rope) called para-cord, and the air is injected into the tube in between to form a membrane structure. This is a special structure designed to shorten the construction and dismantlement period due to limited use time of Seoul Plaza and to reuse next time.
The tensile material that supports the two membranes consists of about 40,000 ropes with a 30-centimeter gap, and the double air membranes create an important façade by natural lighting during the day and internal light at night.

Geometric Symbolism

Our suggested skating rink consists of a combination of equilateral triangles and circles.
The triangular deck is located where citizens freely move in and out, and It is a place where the plaza, the Seoul Library, and the skating rink relate to each other.
A circular-shaped auxiliary facility that reinterprets the past in a modern way, reflects the skating rink anywhere, providing citizens with new spatial and temporal experiences, along with a roof made up of air-dome.

The sense of Place in Seoul Plaza

Seoul Plaza is an open space for everyone. There are enthusiastic soccer fans called “Red Devil” who get together whenever there is a national game. Also, It’s a place where different political rallies are held every minute. and collective actions are carried out, from individual citizens to groups of various personalities.
The skating rink is also open to everyone during the winter, regardless of age, race, gender, or political identity. That’s why we proposed an architecture that would be open to everyone and act like a lighthouse in the square for the duration of the rink.

Time Lapse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKQh6vRH9Q4
VR_Ⅰ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LaEMjeB3nY
VR_Ⅱ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVUW9yJGwcs

Architects: Zong Xoo U, Vin Kim (CoRe Architects) + Yoon Hwan Kim (Graft Object)
Design team: Chiwan Ahn, Hyunsoo Kim
Client: Seoul Metropolitan City Sports Council
Photograph: Taxu Lee
Location: Plaza in front of City hall, Taepyung-ro 1-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea
Land area: 13,207㎡
Building area: 1607.34㎡
Building to land ratio: 12.17%
Stories: 1 story
Structure: Lightweight steel structure
Materials: Air-dome, polycarbonate, plywood
User: Citizens
Order Method: Proposal competition
Design period: 2018.8 – 2018.11
Construction period: 2018.11 – 2018.12