Yangjaecheon Bridge Underpass Gallery Shelter Awarded 'President's Award of the Korea Public Design Association' at the National Land Grand Prize

Selected focusing on urgently needed design improvements for bridge underpasses, underground walkways, and school routes; design direction and expression techniques applied after analyzing surrounding environment; distinctive themes assigned, achieving 94% resident satisfaction

Yangjaecheon Bridge

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Cho) operates the district administration so that residents feel pride and happiness in living in Seocho through design administration imbued with ‘Seocho’s unique philosophy’ in every policy and project.

Based on these efforts, the district achieved the result of receiving the ‘Korean Public Design Association President’s Award’ at the ‘2020 Korea Land Grand Prize Awards Ceremony’ held on the 16th.

The awarded ‘Seocho Urban Canvas’ is a ‘life-oriented design project’ that improves local environments in bleak spaces such as school retaining walls, secluded alleys, and underpasses as part of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), eliminating safety blind spots to help residents live in a safer and more beautiful urban environment.

The target sites are prioritized for improvement focusing on underpasses, underground walkways, and school routes urgently needing design enhancement, evaluated through five categories (15 indicators) including safety, walkability, and aesthetics, based on requests received via community centers and resident complaints.

Afterward, the selected sites undergo surrounding environment analysis, applying design directions and expression techniques suitable for the area, assigning differentiated themes. Due to these efforts, the resident satisfaction rate for the Urban Canvas creation reaches as high as 94%, showing very positive responses.

In February this year, the underpass of Yangjaecheon Bridge and the underground walkway connecting to the Express Bus Terminal Station were reborn as galleries where residents can communicate and experience augmented reality (AR), a new technology of the 4th industrial revolution.

Through the free-to-use augmented reality (AR) application ‘Seocho Urban AR’, which requires no separate membership registration, users can view moving images applied with AR on their phones and take photos with the AR background.

Especially, the underpass of Yangjaecheon Bridge was improved into a resting place where videos and nature harmonize naturally at night by installing not only AR murals but also moving lights and benches, creating a space linked to the gallery, transforming the previously gloomy and uninteresting underpass.

The district is also accelerating crime prevention by promoting collaboration through an MOU on resident safety with Seocho and Bangbae Police Stations located in the area.

In the second half of this year, a walking path rest area reflecting the creative ideas of young people will be created to comfort and encourage residents who have been restrained due to COVID-19.

Yangjaecheon Underbridge Gallery Shelter

Going forward, the district plans to continuously communicate through research on residents’ demands and expert consultations, increasing the utilization of neglected spaces with various ideas, while maintaining pleasant and attractive spaces through continuous inspection, management, and content upgrades.

Mayor Eunhee Cho said, “Creating a safe environment is one of the pledges of the 7th local government. We will continue the life-oriented design projects that create safe and beautiful landscapes for Seocho residents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.