DETAILS
As one of the six mega-project sites known as the Han River Renaissance Plan, the city of Seoul Korea is transforming the 300-acre Magok site of ex-urban sprawl and marginally productive agricultural land into a new major metropolitan park thematically focusing on history and nature. With over 300 entries worldwide Thomas Balsley Associates, in collaboration with Samoo Architects, received first prize in the international design competition run by the City of Seoul. The design proposes a unique vision for this 21st-century eco-urbanscape posited to redefine contemporary conditions between urban/land/water/people. As water is the central thesis for the park, an extensive water management system has been developed where filtration and revitalization is vital to the life and health of the park.
NY Times
Thomas Balsley was selected by the New York Times as the only landscape architect in a cast of world-renowned architects to participate in the NY Times Capsule Design Competition. Mr. Balsley’s submission was selected as a finalist, exhibited, and published in the NY Times Magazine’s final series on the Millennium.
National Ecological Center
The threat of global warming prompted the government of Korea to develop the country’s first national center of ecological research. After selecting a site, the government conducted an international design competition, in which the team of Samoo Architects and Thomas Balsley Associates won first prize. This 189-acre park will combine public and private researc...
Korea House
SAMOO Architects and Thomas Balsley Associates received first place in the international design competition for a new Korean Cultural Center. The collaboration blends indoor and outdoor spaces including two rooftop terraces that celebrate traditional Korean beauty and advanced Korean technology through contemporary translations of the Korean garden. Korean sto...
Pershing Square
The SWA/Morphosis team, in partnership with Cecilia Estolano of ELP, Dan Biederman of BRV, Buro Happold, Sam Schwartz Engineering, and Walker Parking, reimagined the heart of downtown Los Angeles during a eight-month design competition.
The proposal reasserts Pershing Square as a dynamic, living platform that animates the urban center and advances Los An...