Tag Archives: seoul

Tallest spokeless ferris wheel to be constructed in Seoul

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Whenever I visit a new international city for the first time, I try to look if they have a giant ferris wheel and if I can, I take a ride on it to get the best view of the city. So far, the best ones I’ve been on are the Singapore Flyer and the Budapest Eye. Of course I have a lot more to go as I haven’t been to places like the London Eye, High Roller, Dubai Eye, etc. It looks like I’ll be adding something new to my list in one of my favorite cities in the world: a landmark giant ferris wheel is coming to Seoul soon.

Designer: UNStudio

The Seoul Twin Eye will start construction sometime in 2025 and when finished, it will be the world’s tallest spokeless one with its planned 180 meters high structure. Aside from its height, it has a pretty unique design as it will have two intersecting rings that will carry pods going around both tracks. It can hold as many as 1,400 tourists at the same time, with 20-25 people fitting in each of the 64 capsules. This is actually double of what the London Eye is able to accommodate and currently it is one of the largest in the world.

The planned ferris wheel will be located on the edge of the Han River as part pf a 40-meter high cultural complex which Seoul is hoping to develop as part of public spaces for residents and tourists. Not only will you be able to ride such a huge ferris wheel but you’ll also get the best panoramic views of the city. The design is actually inspired by the Honcheonsigye, an astronomical clock that represents celestial objects moving through time.

Aside from the Seoul Twin Eye, there’s a proposal to also construct a monorail to have a direct connection from the subway station to the ferris wheel site. There is also a proposed zip line within the complex for those who prefer a much more adventurous experience, although it’s unclear if it will be connected to the ferris wheel directly. One thing’s for sure, once it is launched, it will add to the beauty and charm of Seoul and will become a must-see destination for locals and tourists alike.

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The World’s largest spokeless ferris wheel is coming up in Seoul

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Large ferris wheels seem to now be a landmark and tourist spot for a lot of large cities like London, Vienna, Budapest, Singapore, Dubai, etc. They provide a gorgeous view of the city to the people who fall in line (sometimes for hours) and also serve as part of the landscape for those viewing it from the ground. We will most likely see plans for more wheels to even more cities as it’s a pretty popular thing to do when visiting a place for the first time.

Designer: Seoul Metropolitan Government

Seoul has become one of the most popular cities to visit as Kpop, Kdramas and Korean food continue to conquer the world. The city government has now unveiled plans to add another thing for tourists and citizens to visit in what will possibly become the largest spokeless Ferris Wheel in the world. The Seoul Ring is set to start construction by 2025 and will be located in a former trash disposal site that is named after the sky or heaven. Haneul Park is now an ecological park when previously it was where a lot of the city’s garbage was dumped.

The ferris wheel will have a diameter of 591 feet and will have 36 glass carriages that can carry 25 occupants each. Aside from being visually stunning and give visitors a beautiful view of the city, it will also be environmentally friendly as it will be running on green energy. The “ring-without-spokes” design will use recycled energy, including solar power, adding to the eco-friendly theme of the park. They’re also planning to use augmented-reality to project things on the cubicles’ walls, like a virtual tourist guide while riding the wheel.

Haneul Park is actually close to North Korea so they also want it to become a symbol for their wish for a unified Korea. They’re expecting it to be able to carry up to 12,000 people every day when it will finally be completed by 2027 (hopefully). They local government will be investing around $411 million for this project as they look forward to having even more tourists visit the city. Hopefully, the Seoul Ring will become another draw to Seoul, among all the other things you can already do in the city.

The post The World’s largest spokeless ferris wheel is coming up in Seoul first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Cone-shaped Chair amplifies the sounds of the river in front of it to help you calm down

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The chair’s unique design works the same way cupping your hands around your ear helps you hear better. Dubbed the Amplification Of The Senses Chair, this unique piece of public furniture can be found placed along the banks of the Han River in Seoul. Designed to be a place where citizens can go for a moment of reflection, relaxation, and tranquility, the chair’s unique design gathers sounds from around the river and channels them toward your ears, creating a unique ASMR experience that helps relax and rejuvenate you. “This river is one of the few places to feel nature in this polluted city,” said designer Eun Whan Cho, who was commissioned to make the chairs by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. “When we sit on these chairs, the sounds of trees and rivers are amplified,” he adds. The megaphone-shaped backrest of the chair not only heightens your sense of hearing but also blocks out your peripheral vision, allowing you to completely focus on what’s in front of you and helping your mind drown out any distracting thoughts and emotions.

Designer: Eun Whan Cho (Mootaa)

The chair’s clever design turns sitting into a much more intense activity by enhancing your hearing in a way that makes you concentrate on the tranquility of nature. Doing a much better job at boosting your focus and reducing your stress than any lo-fi playlist on YouTube possibly ever could, the bench acts as a place where you go to give your mind a break. You’re surrounded by nature, fresh air, the smell of grass, and the sounds of water rippling, birds chirping, and tree branches rustling in the wind.

The chair’s focus on nature is dual-fold. Not only does it physically help you connect with nature, it’s entirely made from recycled plastic waste too. Waste around Seoul is gathered, cleaned, and pulverized into tiny chips of colored plastic that are then bound with a resin and applied on large molds. Once the resin cures, the massive pieces are de-molded and assembled to form the chairs. Each chair removes a significant amount of plastic from entering landfills or becoming ‘nature’s problem’. In a way, the chair’s purpose, as well as its construction both, have a cleansing effect. The chair’s design cleanses the environment of plastic, and sitting on it helps cleanse the human’s mind of any distracting thoughts!

Each bench is meticulously hand-cast by applying a resin-suspended composite of recycled plastic chips onto large molds.

Plastic waste for the chairs began being collected in 2018, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to manufacture and install the chairs on the promenade around the Han River by 2026.

The Amplification Of The Senses Chair is a Silver Winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2022.

The materials that make up the bench are obtained by crushing plastic waste in Seoul.

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Seoul’s architecture gets immortalized with these desk trays!

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Looking for new storage containers for your desk? These stackable trays from Studio Unité present an unconventional shape — with slanted sides and not-quite-equal rectangular borders. With their frames, built with a mixture of wood, cement, and plywood, these trays look very much like tiny buildings on your desk. That architecture-inspired imagery has very specific roots; you could likely find its full-sized counterpart in the streets of Seoul.

Brief history lesson: In the 1960s and 70s, Seoul built several apartments in order to accommodate its growing population. Many of those early apartment complexes could be described as … well, experimental – never a perfect square or rectangle. These buildings are a part of Seoul’s history, and Studio Unité honors this history with their array of desk-storage units. Previously on Yanko Design, we’ve featured products inspired by Seoul’s architecture and we are excited to add Studio Unité’s desk trays to that collection. The design helps preserve Seoul’s history and culture and presents it in a product that is easily accessible to consumers.

Designer: Somin Lee and Sujin Lee

Crytek is closing studios and slow-paying employees again

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Crytek, the developer behind the technically impressive CryEngine toolset, and most recently Robinson: The Journey, is laying off employees and closing studios. Workers' paychecks have reportedly been extremely slow to arrive as well. No, you aren't...