New Songdo City, South Korea

Songdo was the bait that lured me to South Korea from the beginning.  This new city will have been invented and built in just over 10 years.  See the time lapse web cam photos for proof, it has happened at an incredible speed.   Although brief, I want to highlight the scope and quality of current development through photography.

This city is partially occupied at the moment.  Designers Kohn Pedersen Fox’s (KPF) satellite office is on site and architect Joon-Hyuk Lee gave me the grand tour.

Joon has ideas about implementing design guidelines that would eradicate the chaos of signage in the city – or at least clean up and reclaim the facades of Seoul.  He spoke about the challenges of the construction schedule and infrastructure coordination.  When I left, he was looking into buying a (residential) unit in Songdo.  Maybe he’ll be living in South Korea’s newest city by the time the grand opening is underway in August of this year.

See Seoul Flickr stream for more images and more South Korean Aerotropoli.