Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced plans to develop the Second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts as a waterfront landmark and transform Yeouido Park, where the center will be located, into an urban cultural park that harmonizes cultural facilities and green spaces.
On the 18th (local time), during his visit to the Elbphilharmonie, a representative cultural and artistic facility in Hamburg, Germany, Mayor Oh shared the vision for the restructuring project of Yeouido Park and revealed these plans. An urban cultural park refers to a park centered around a city-representative cultural facility, equipped with abundant green spaces and open areas that support various activities.
A bird's-eye view of the 2nd Sejong Center for the Performing Arts as seen from Yeouido Hangang Park [Photo courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government]
On that day, Mayor Oh listened to explanations from officials about the Elbphilharmonie, which has been reborn as a diverse performance venue, and actively sought ideas that could be applied to making the Second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Yeouido Park a waterfront landmark. The Elbphilharmonie is an architectural work renovated by the Swiss architectural duo Herzog & de Meuron from an old red brick cocoa warehouse built in 1966 into a form resembling frozen waves.
The Elbphilharmonie is a complex facility that includes a concert hall, hotel, spa, restaurant, and a large indoor parking lot. Visitors enter directly from the ground floor via escalators to the 8th floor, called "The Plaza." "The Plaza" serves as a lobby and an observation space 37 meters high, offering a 360-degree panoramic view of Hamburg city.
Although Yeouido Park is located in a central area, it has suffered from poor accessibility due to disconnection from surrounding areas, causing a division between East and West Yeouido and leading to a decline in Yeouido’s spatial status. This has raised the need to reorganize it into an urban cultural park.
In this regard, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to establish a business plan for the first half of the year by dividing the restructuring of Yeouido Park into short-term projects that create new spaces within the park and long-term projects that connect East and West Yeouido and surrounding areas centered on Yeouido Park.
A bird's-eye view of the 2nd Sejong Center for the Performing Arts as seen from Yeouido Park [Provided by Seoul City]
First, aiming to start construction in 2026, Yeouido Park will be remodeled into a world-class urban cultural park suitable for the waterfront international financial district, and the Second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts will be introduced as Seoul’s waterfront cultural landmark. The waterfront cultural park will include the landmark facility, the Second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, connected to Hangang Park, and an urban garden. A cultural green plaza will be created as a multipurpose lawn plaza linked to the international financial district, serving as a space for various events and urban relaxation.
The Second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts was originally planned to be built on the old dock site in Mullae-dong, but the site is surrounded by large apartment complexes and is a residential area, making it unsuitable as a location for a large-scale performance venue representing the southwestern area of Seoul. Additionally, the site is too small, posing planning limitations. In response to these issues, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Yeongdeungpo District agreed to build the Second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Yeouido Park and to construct a district-run complex cultural facility for local residents and cultural artists on the old dock site in Mullae-dong.
Furthermore, to promote this as a pilot project for urban and architectural design innovation, a preliminary design competition for the Second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Yeouido Park will be held in the first half of the year. Through the design competition, excellent designs and construction costs will be proposed, and after gathering public opinions, a business plan will be established. In the second half of the year, budget pre-procedures such as investment review will be conducted to actively advance the project.
In the long term, the restructuring of Yeouido’s urban spatial structure will be undertaken. The Seoul Metropolitan Government stated, “The goal is to transform Yeouido’s urban spatial structure, which is divided by roads and parks, into an integrated central spatial structure.” Accordingly, plans include creating an underground pedestrian network linked to the Yeouido Station complex transfer center.
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