48 Hour Inclusive Design Challenge, Seoul 2009
Jamsil Sports Complex, Seoul
12-14 October 2009
Sponsored and and co-organised by the British Council as part of their Creative Cities project and the Seoul Metropolitan Government
Team G
Team leader: Chris Weston (Matter)
Design partner: Chae Suk Kang
The issue
For Chae Suk, walking outdoors in a natural landscape is important for the positive effects it has on her health and mobility. She took the team to Pagoda Park in central Seoul where unemployed elderly men gather daily. No longer in full-time employment and lacking a clear role in society, they relatedto the team feelings about redundancy, loneliness and isolation.
There was a common feeling of disconnection with younger people because of their use of communications technology. The peaceful atmosphere in the walled garden park allows people to meet easily. Irrespective of age, parks and green spaces are important to everyone the team talked to, as places to socialise, relax, be near others and escape the city.
What is it?
Madang is named after traditional Korean gardens that have an open courtyard. The aim of the Madang project is to re-vitalise Seoul's city's green areas, shifting them from disjointed passive spaces to connected and active social focal points. This would be done by creating a series of pathways to the public garden. The centrepiece is the architecturally regenerated Pagoda Park.
The Madang walkways would provide a slow walking route through the city. Between the walkways, the parks and open spaces are designed to promote a sense of community. Some of the walkways are elevated with ramps and lifts to ensure accessibility and they offer an alternative to the subway system.
The design interventions in the parks are simple. Small changes to existing public seating are designed to increase accessibility and interaction. Other objects use technology embedded into furniture and the landscape to remotely link people using the park network.
The team envisages that these objects will allow the older generation the opportunity to discover and become familiar with digital communications, in a comfortable and pressure-free environment. This extended network of parks builds on an initiative in Pagoda Park where a group of older men who often use the park are hired to maintain it.
Seoul Madang will create similar employment opportunities by providing people with an important role as custodians of the in Seoul city's Madang.
