'Seoul Botanic Park', reminiscent of the epidermis of a plant
If Singapore has the 'Botanic Gardens', Seoul has the 'Seoul Botanic Park'. Not only the greenhouse, which is the highlight of this botanical garden, but the entire complex is an ecological park. The land area (50,400㎡) is also enormous, the size of about 70 soccer fields joined together .
Developed in stages, the current botanical garden was created in 2019. Although the completion date has not been confirmed, once the second phase of masterplan is completed, it will be the largest botanical garden in Asia with a land area of approximately 90,000 ㎡. Currently, Singapore Botanical Gardens is the largest in Asia at 75,000 ㎡. Seoul Botanic Park itself is free, but the greenhouse and some theme gardens are operated for a fee.
What we will talk about in detail today is the greenhouse located within the ecological park. This building, designed by 'The System Lab (Kim Chan Joong, https://www.thesystemlab.com )', has a huge appearance with a diameter of about 100m and a height of about 30m. The flower-shaped appearance is impressive, but the open interior space is spectacular enough to make you forget that this is even an indoor space. I will describe some particularly impressive architectural elements below.
1. Shape of the greenhouse
The unique shape with a sunken center attracts attention. The building's floor height is like a low bowl, getting lower toward the center of the building. Usually, in order to discharge rainwater to the outside, the central floor height is high and the edge height is designed to be low.
When I first saw the greenhouse shape, I was very strange. However, upon closer look more carefually, I could understand the design intention. Actually, it was to use this form to collect rainwater internally rather than export it to the outside, and to reuse the collected rainwater as landscaping water.
This functional idea was good, but in fact, the sense of space created by this form was more interesting. Because the floor height was higher on the outside of the greenhouse, a sense of openness was felt when viewed from the center. Additionally, large plants could be placed around the outside, creating an atmosphere as if you were in a jungle. The pattern on the roof was also impressive because it reminded me of the plant cells I looked at with curiosity through a microscope as a child.
2. Material of the roof
The roof material is an exterior material called ETFE (Ethylene Tetra fluoro Ethylene), which has a kind of membrane structure. Its characteristic is that it transmits light well while providing insulation due to the presence of an air layer, and because it is very light (it is vinyl), it can minimize the weight burden on the building structure. (Its weight is about 1/100 of glass.) Therefore, it is easy to apply to long span structures and it is not difficult to create a relatively free shape. Looking back at the above features, it seems that there is no material better than this for the outer shell of a botanical greenhouse.
Of course, there are definitely disadvantages to ETFE. Over time, the air contained between the plastic membranes will escape, so it need to keep blowing air into it. Regardless of whether it costs more or less, it means that it takes more effort to maintain it. Although it has been greatly improved now, it is still true that there are concerns about discoloration and durability. And because it is difficult to produce in large quantities all at once, if you look ETFE closely, you will inevitably find traces of vinyl being glued together. The reason why I say that the application of ETFE in this building is impressive is not to say that this material is a good or bad material. I just want to say that it could matches well with a design that can well utilize the character and characteristics of the botanical garden.
3. Circulation of the visitors.
This is also related to the shape of the building. Spaces are divided according to concept, like dividing a round pizza, and the divided spaces are connected by movement lines. Although the scale of the building is huge and complex, the way it divides the space and connects each space is very easy and intuitive. Also, it was impressive that viewing was not limited to a eye level, but was planned to allow the plants to be viewed from various perspectives through planned three-dimensional movement lines. This is because when you look at the same object from a different height, you often discover different aspects that you could not normally see.
When someone asked where the world's best botanical garden is, the first thing that comes to mind is the UK's 'Eden Project' or Singapore's 'Botanical Gardens'. However, 'Seoul Botanic Park' is also one of the excellent botanical gardens with a unique character. Although I mainly explained the greenhouse, there is no doubt that it is actually a great botanical garden in itself as well as the greenhouse.
* https://botanicpark.seoul.go.kr/eng/main.do
Seoul Botanic Park
botanicpark.seoul.go.kr
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