Snøhetta’s Banpo Ecological Playscape: Unbuilt Proposal for a Reconnected Seoul Waterfront

Snøhetta’s Banpo Ecological Playscape, a competition entry for the Banpo–Hangang River Connection Park and Cultural Facilities competition in Seoul, reached the final round in 2024 but was not selected for construction. The unbuilt scheme, covering 38,000 square meters along the Hangang River, proposes a layered public landscape where wetlands, elevated pathways and cultural spaces work together to repair a waterfront that has been fragmented by decades of urban development.

The competition asked teams to reconnect the Banpo neighborhood with the Hangang River, which is currently separated by the Olympic-daero expressway and a series of road embankments. Snøhetta’s response treats the site not as a conventional park but as both ecological infrastructure and civic destination. The design is organized around two interconnected layers: an ecosystem at ground level and a playscape above it.

A landscape that works with water

At the base, reconstructed wetlands, waterways and woodlands form a self-regulating landscape designed to filter water and support biodiversity. The scheme directs part of the surrounding catchment into a proposed wetland channel, which would reduce pressure on Gangnam’s existing drainage network. This approach integrates flood management directly into the public space, rather than treating it as a separate engineering problem.

Above this ecological foundation, the playscape brings together plazas, gardens, educational areas, play zones, an amphitheater and indoor cultural facilities. Snøhetta describes play broadly, imagining a landscape shared by children, adults, animals, insects and wildlife. The design deliberately avoids a rigid separation between active recreation and natural habitat.

Three elements organise the proposal: a natural landform, a triangular platform and a connective thread. The platform folds over the landscape and the expressway, creating sheltered interiors, elevated viewpoints and event spaces while helping to buffer traffic noise. Exhibition rooms, a library and cafés are integrated into the sculptural structure, allowing indoor programs to spill onto terraces overlooking the river. A continuous pathway ties the ecological zones, cultural facilities, surrounding neighborhoods and waterfront together.

Why an unbuilt proposal matters

Although the Banpo Ecological Playscape will not be built, the proposal offers a clear argument for treating infrastructure, flood management and recreation as parts of the same urban system. In place of a conventional park placed beside a road, Snøhetta imagined a landscape capable of crossing the expressway, absorbing water around it and making the river feel less like scenery viewed from a distance.

For readers of Paionia7, the project is relevant as a case study in how landscape architecture can address fragmentation caused by transport infrastructure. Many cities face similar challenges where highways cut off neighborhoods from rivers or coastlines. The proposal’s integrated approach to ecology, flood control and public space provides a reference for future competitions and design strategies, even when the specific scheme remains unrealized.

Key facts
| Project | Banpo Ecological Playscape |
| — | — |
| Architect | Snøhetta |
| Location | Banpo, Seoul, South Korea, along the Hangang River |
| Status | Unbuilt; finalist in 2024 international competition |
| Area | 38,000 square metres |

The project’s afterlife on paper still contributes to the conversation about how Seoul can reclaim its waterfront. The competition itself signals that the city is open to bold ideas, even if the winning scheme was different. Snøhetta’s vision may influence subsequent projects in the same area or inspire similar approaches elsewhere.

Source: Designboom, https://www.designboom.com/architecture/snohetta-unbuilt-banpo-playscape-seoul-hangang-river-architecture/

By Paionia7

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