It appears that some enterprising folks want to put a ring-shaped structure up along the banks of the Han River. See more details here. I immediately thought of the London Eye (which I think of as the London Eyesore), that huge Ferris wheel by the Thames (technically, it's a "cantilevered observation wheel"). Seoul's ring isn't a Ferris wheel, which simply makes it obnoxious without being the least bit amusing.
Put up that ring, and it's just going to look stupid in twenty years.
CORRECTION: as Charles rightly points out in the comments, the proposed wheel is, in fact, intended to be a Ferris wheel. So: even more imitative of London, then. Thoughts of Pyongyang's version of the Arc de Triomphe come to mind.
Look a little closer at the slide. Right beneath "Seoul Ring" it says: "Grand Ferris Wheel, Panoramic View of the City." So it would appear to be a Ferris wheel after all. Not that that makes it any better, of course.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm most curious about, though, is who was making this presentation and to whom (and where), given that everything seems to be in English. What was the point of this presentation?
This wouldn't be the first time Seoul has cribbed an "urban renewal" project from another world city, by the way. After the popularity of the High Line in New York (which I've been on a number of times and is indeed very nice), Seoul did something similar '서울로7017,' which is a repurposing of the old Seoul Station flyover. It's not really as nice as the High Line (mainly because of the views from the respective parks), but it takes what would otherwise be an eyesore and turns it into welcome park space.
The Ring would be conjuring something out of thin air, though, so it's a bit of a different story. I do find myself wondering how they would find a place to put it so that it doesn't obstruct some rich apartment dwellers' views of the Han.
Damn. Yup, sure enough—Ferris wheel. Seoul Eyesore, here we come. Was there some "consent of the people" survey that I missed?
ReplyDeleteWhen has the consent of the people ever mattered?
ReplyDelete