Seoul Lite, Unfinished skyscraper in Digital Media City, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Lite, also called the Digital Media City Landmark Building, was planned as a 133-floor, 640 m supertall in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, next to the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Its final design by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with local architect Samoo used a curved "Seoul Wave" form resembling a lighthouse, with a bamboo-type structure and an exterior skin of 40,000 LED panels. The project was cancelled in 2012.
Construction began in 2009 with the goal of creating one of the world's tallest buildings. Work halted in 2012 when economic difficulties and the struggling property market forced the project to suspend operations.
The name Seoul Lite was used before the official title Digital Media City Landmark Building. The design's three concepts were Digital Media, Eco Design and Human Culture, and the facade was to echo the windows of traditional Korean houses. The site was intended as the highlight of the Digital Media City project launched in 2002.
The site lies in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, beside the Seoul World Cup Stadium, at the western end of Seoul's subway network. The 2012 cancellation and land-contract termination mean no tower stands there; check the current status of the plot before travelling, as the area is an active redevelopment zone rather than a finished landmark.
The design by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill called for an exterior skin of 40,000 LED panels, and the bamboo-like hollow-core structure was engineered to resist bending three times better against wind and earthquakes. A green rooftop and automatic ventilation windows were planned to cut energy use.
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