Seoul City Announces Han River Art Pier Development Plan
Includes Floating Swimming Pool Like Denmark's Harbor Bath
Cultural and Art Facilities for Performances and Exhibitions
An 'Hangang Art Pier' where people can swim on the river and enjoy exhibitions and performances will be created at Ichon Hangang Park in Seoul.
On the 19th (local time), Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced this during his visit to the 'Harbor Bath' in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Harbor Bath is Denmark's first floating public swimming pool, established in 2003 with direct budget investment from the Copenhagen city government, attracting an average of 300,000 visitors annually. Mayor Oh said, "We will create a floating swimming pool on the Hangang River where citizens can safely and enjoyably swim on the river."
The city plans to develop a complex space tentatively named Hangang Art Pier at the aging Geobukseon Naru dock, including a floating swimming pool, water leisure facilities, and year-round cultural and artistic activities. The name Art Pier combines 'art,' referring to cultural and artistic facilities such as exhibitions and performances that can be enjoyed year-round, and 'pier,' meaning water leisure equipment and ship mooring facilities (boarding, docking, and storage facilities).
Already, major cities worldwide are shifting from infrastructure construction to utilizing coastal natural resources. Besides the Harbor Bath, floating swimming pools include the 'Josephine Baker Pool' on the Seine River in Paris, France, and the 'Badeschiff' on the Spree River in Berlin, Germany.
Accordingly, the city has benchmarked floating swimming pools installed in rivers, ports, and coasts of famous cities and plans to make Hangang Art Pier a tourist attraction where visitors can experience the openness of an outdoor swimming pool and the unique sensation of swimming in the Hangang River.
Along with this, the city plans to expand the insufficient public ship mooring facilities on the Hangang River through Hangang Art Pier to meet the increasing demand for water leisure. It also intends to design a complex marina facility blending culture, art, and leisure so that the diverse charms of the Hangang can be enjoyed year-round.
The Art Pier will consist of a 5,000㎡ water-based building, a 900㎡ floating swimming pool, ship mooring facilities (50 berths), a performance hall, and exhibition spaces. The floating swimming pool will include a 25m lane, a children's pool, and a heated pool.
The estimated cost for creating Hangang Art Pier is about 30 billion KRW. The city plans to conduct basic planning and feasibility studies this year, start construction as early as 2025, and aim to open in 2026.
A Seoul city official said, "Starting with Ichon Hangang Art Pier, we plan to gradually expand marina facilities where citizens can enjoy various water experiences such as floating swimming pools, yachts, paddleboards, and water skiing throughout the Hangang River, turning it into a tourist attraction and allowing citizens to enjoy the Hangang more familiarly and diversely."
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