Seoul Plaza

• 1. Introduction

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  Seoul Plaza sits directly in front of Seoul City Hall on Taepyeongno, in the Jung District of Seoul, and it holds a place in the city's life that no building could replicate. On the 1st of May 2004, the Seoul Metropolitan Government threw open this elliptical expanse of grass and stone to the public, replacing what had been, for decades, a traffic square with a forty-year-old fountain at its center. What draws people here is not architecture. It is the fact that the space belongs to everyone. The questions worth asking are: what did this ground look like before, who comes here now, and what does a city reveal about itself when it chooses to give its citizens an open field in the middle of everything?

• 2. From Traffic Island to Public Green

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  Before 2004, the site was a traffic square. The forty-year-old fountain that stood there was demolished, and the surrounding space was rebuilt from the ground up. The result is an ellipse covering a total of 3,995 pyeong, which translates to roughly 13,207 square meters. Of that, 1,904 pyeong, or 6,294 square meters, is given over to grass. Beneath the lawn, the designers installed an underground water tank that collects rainwater and feeds it back up through the sprinklers that keep the lawn green. Forty-eight lights ring the grass square, illuminating the plaza after dark. The Seoul Metropolitan Government framed the project as part of a broader push for environmentally friendly renovation, alongside the restoration of Cheonggye Stream and the creation of Gwanghwamun Plaza nearby.

• 3. A Stage for the City

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  Protests against US beef imports in South Korea have unfolded across Seoul Plaza, drawing crowds who chose this civic heart as the place to make their voices heard. The Korea Queer Culture Festival has also taken place here, bringing a very different kind of gathering to the same ground. In a separate register entirely, the plaza served as the Starting Line for The Amazing Race Australia 4, lending the space an international television audience for one edition of the long-running competition. On the 1st of June 2011, the Seoul Metropolitan Government designated Seoul Plaza, together with Gwanghwamun Plaza, as smoke-free zones. Smokers who violate the ban face fines.

• 4. Winter on the Grass

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  Every winter since 2004, the lawn at Seoul Plaza disappears under ice. From mid-December through February of the following year, an open-air ice rink takes over the ellipse. When the ice season ends, the green lawn returns and the fountain starts running again. The cycle repeats annually, turning a single space into two entirely different public experiences depending on the time of year. For anyone arriving by subway, City Hall Station on Line 1, Exit 5, puts them on the plaza's edge after a walk of just 89 meters, roughly one minute on foot.