Jongno Tower, Office skyscraper in Jongno district, South Korea
Jongno Tower is a 33-storey, 133-metre office tower on Jongno 2-ga, opposite Bosingak. Its slender rectangular shaft is clad in blue-green reflective glass with vertical mullions, and the top opens into a large ring of pale steel lattice held on a central column, with the red and white "JONGNO TOWER" logo near the crown. Floors 23 to 30 are hollow.
The site was the heart of the Joseon-era Sijeon shopping arcades and later the Shinsegae Department Store. Samsung Life Insurance and a partner commissioned the tower, designed and supervised by Samwoo Architects; Samsung C&T built it. Permitted in 1987, begun in 1988, it received use approval in 1999. The Air Force required an aerial corridor, so the upper section was separated from the base.
The tower stands opposite Bosingak, the pavilion whose bell has marked the New Year in Seoul since 1953; the building's site was the centre of the old Jongno market street and later the Hwasin Department Store. The name Jongno means "bell street", taken from that bell. The tower appears in the video games SimCity 5 and StarCraft II, and in the films Hello Stranger and I Am Here.
The tower stands at the Jongno 1-ga intersection, on the northeast side, directly across from Bosingak. Jonggak Station on Seoul Subway Line 1 is the nearest stop. The 23rd to 30th floors are hollow, so the occupied top floor sits above an open gap.
The building contains a large void space between the 23rd and 30th floors, creating a distinctive gap in its vertical form. This deliberate opening was an intentional feature of the original design.
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