Seoul City Announces Urban Architecture Design Innovation Project Contest... Benefits Including Height Restriction Relaxation

Seoul City is publicly recruiting innovative architectural designs that will drive the city's attractiveness and competitiveness.

The city announced on the 16th that the 3rd Urban Architecture Design Innovation Project competition will be held on the 17th.

Aerial view of Le Meridien. Provided by Seoul City

The Urban Architecture Design Innovation Project, launched in 2023, provides incentives such as floor area ratio relaxation to promote creative architectural design.

In the previous 1st and 2nd competitions, a total of 19 works were selected, including the 'K-PROJECT' complex cultural facility by Pritzker Prize winner David Chipperfield, 'Seoul Twin Peaks' on the site of Le Meridien Hotel in Yeoksam-dong by Dominique Perrault, and 'Apgujeong Galleria Department Store' by Thomas Heatherwick.

This competition will start on the 17th. Participants must submit a design description, a set of design boards, architectural overview, and related legal review documents on the 'Project Seoul' website. The eligible sites include all locations within Seoul except for development-restricted zones, reconstruction/redevelopment areas, and maintenance promotion zones subject to redevelopment projects.

The Urban Architecture Design Innovation Committee will make the final decision on the project recipients by considering the originality, aesthetics, and public nature of the submitted designs.

Selected sites will benefit from special architectural district designation, which relaxes building coverage ratio, building height limits, and floor area ratio. They will also receive benefits such as simplified administrative procedures including integrated architectural and traffic reviews.

Im Chang-su, Director of Future Space Planning at Seoul City, said, "We hope this will be an opportunity not only to build new structures but also to transform citizens' daily lives and enhance the city's competitiveness through innovative design."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.