Naru Tower, Seoul, Korea

WAN Award 2009 Commercial Design Sector joint Joint Winner

Gensler design a 600m tower as a gateway to Seoul

Naru tower will be an international icon that marks Seoul as the next up and coming global metropolis. It reflects both the rich history and bright future of Seoul, which defines itself as a city of technology and innovation.

 

Naru tower reflects the importance of the Han River to Seoul by drawing from the imagery of a traditional Korean sail. The form is created by over sizing the mechanical floors the 'stretching' the glass like a sail over this frame. The resulting atriums between this outer skin and the rectilinear inner skin are filled with lush vertical gardens that bring life and a human scale to tower.

The strategy of Naru Tower is to combine the dynamism of vertical living with the proven functionality and market appeal of rectilinear floor plates. The tower is simply and cost-effectively built up as a series of extruded rectangles. Its regularly spaced mechanical floors vary in size, providing the vertical frame over which the exterior façade is stretched in taught but delicate curves like a sail. The interstitial volumes this creates house dynamic, multilevel atrium spaces filled with lush vertical gardens that are the life of Naru tower.

The other WAN Award 2009 Commercial Design Design Sector joint winner Citroën showroom in the Champs-Elysées, Paris by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture