Introduction
MEAN*'s 2017 competition entry for the Yeoui-Naru Ferry Terminal 여의나루선착장 treats the terminal as the meeting point of the river and the park.
Its location makes the terminal a visual bookend and a destination for those arriving from Yeouinaru subway station or from the Yeongdeungpo-dong side of the river.
It should therefore be easy to reach from the park and from the water’s edge.
The terminal is designed to be see-through and easy to use for those traveling by ferry or boat. Its entry aligns with the park’s main promenade and brings visitors, without obstruction, to the water’s edge adjacent to the main ticketing, retail and waiting facilities of the terminal.
Concept
The canopy would provide both entry and shelter to those waiting for ferries. There is a direct visual connection with the water, ferries and terminal waiting areas so that visitors can meet, wait and cross this space while keeping their ferry in sight.
For visitors arriving at the terminal by ferry, the open center and its circulation give a view of the park and the way to the subway station. The canopy draws on traditional Korean construction, shingling and roofing, and keeps the terminal open and clear.
Starting as seating, becoming an enclosure, then an event platform, the canopy gives visitors many vantage points from which to take in the surrounding landscape. The materials of the canopy, enclosure and pontoon were chosen to suit each area’s function. This includes six types of canopy paneling, one for each of the canopy’s surface functions. The canopy sits on a lightweight woven steel frame supporting modular panels.
The columns form arches in two directions, following the curving woven beams of the roof structure. To keep the views from the water’s edge clear, larger boats would berth directly behind the terminal, and smaller private and commercial boats to its sides.
Giwa, Rebuilt In Modules
The roofing system takes the Korean giwa roof, built from overlapping clay tiles, as its model.
Like the giwa roof, the terminal’s roof is built from repeated modules.
Each type of module has its own function.
The six types are:
1-Observatory Seating
2-Plaza Seating
3-Skylight Panel
4-Deck Panel
5-Tesla Solar Roof
6-Stepping Blocks
The intent was that the water’s edge, the line between the park and the terminal, would disappear, and that every visitor to the park could reach the waterside.