Digital Media City Landmark Tower Korea, Seoul Skyscraper Project News, Tall Building Design Images

Digital Media City Landmark Tower in Seoul

Seoul Skyscraper Building – Korean tower design by SOM Architects

post updated 7 September 2024

Design: SOM Architects

SOM BREAKS GROUND FOR DIGITAL MEDIA CITY LANDMARK TOWER

At 2100 feet (640 meters) tall, tower will be the tallest building in East Asia

Digital Media City Landmark Tower in Seoul

One of three major projects by SOM in Korea

Digital Media City Landmark Tower

4 Dec 2009

Digital Media City Landmark Tower Seoul

New York, NY – Earlier this month, the New York office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) celebrated the groundbreaking of its designs for Digital Media City Landmark Tower in Seoul, Korea. The event attracted thousands of onlookers, and was hosted by the Mayor of Seoul and representatives of Turner International. The 2100-foot-tall building will be the tallest building in East Asia when it is complete in 2014.

Digital Media City Landmark Tower Seoul

Mustafa Abadan, SOM’s design partner in charge of this project, said of the project, “Digital Media City Landmark Tower ushers in a new era of thinking about super-tall tower design. From a sustainability standpoint, there is no other project that can compete.”

Located north of the Han River at the western edge of Seoul, the Digital Media City Landmark tower rises as a gateway to the city. Greeting visitors as they approach from Incheon Airport and points west, DMC Landmark Tower will create a first impression of Seoul’s identity as a global city of the future. Together with other future towers, including the Yongsan and Lotte towers, the DMC tower sends a message about Korea’s standing in the world. The DMC tower is particularly significant as it will be the first to be constructed and will be the first tower international visitors see on their way into Seoul.

The tower is shaped through gently curving forms and smooth transitions between the main north-south and east-west facades. Perimeter mega-columns reinforce the expression of the transforming mass and provide a natural break to a series of solar louvers.

On the east and western facades a pattern of both horizontal and vertical fins shield from early and late day sun; while on the southern face horizontal shades shield from high afternoon sun. Together with a soaring crown which collects and channels light and helps power the building through wind turbines the architectural expression of the tower reinforces the sustainability strategies at the core of this design.

By taking advantage of naturally occurring events such as stack effect and solar radiation gain, DMC Tower is able to generate its own power and therefore reduce municipal energy consumption to a fraction of traditional levels. “We anticipate that our power generation strategies may reduce the building’s energy use by about 65%,” says Abadan. At the core of SOM’s scheme is an integrated sustainability strategy that uses the natural physics of tall buildings in order to generate power.

Through the use of the stack effect and wind turbines located at the top of the building, SOM is generating almost 3% of the building’s energy consumption. High efficiency solar photovoltaic panels maximize solar energy and provide additional shade where needed most, thereby reducing internal cooling loads. Radiant cooling through chilled beams, radiant floor heating and drawing tempered air through green atriums adds further efficiency. Additionally, atrium gardens and open air green spaces throughout the building act as natural air filters for the building’s inhabitants.

In addition to the DMC Landmark Tower, SOM is also designing the Lotte Busan Tower, in the southern port city of Busan. This project will be the tallest building in Busan, at 1706 feet/520 meters. SOM was also just awarded the commission to create a new masterplan for the northern part of Busan.

SOM Architects

Digital Media City Landmark Tower Seoul information from Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP

Location: Seoul, Korea, eastern Asia

Korea Architecture

Contemporary Architecture in South Korea

Korean Architecture Designs – chronological list

Korean Architecture – Selection:

Hankook Tire R+D Centre, Hankook Technodome, Daejeon
Design: Foster + Partners
Hankook Tire Centre
photograph : Nigel Young
Hankook Tire R+D Centre

Busan Cinema Center, Busan
Design: Coop Himmelb(l)au Architects
Busan Cinema Center : Architecture competition winner

Busan World Business Centre
Design: UNStudio Architects
Korean building

Key Skyscraper Designs by SOM

Burj Dubai, UAE
Burj Dubai : tallest building in world

201 Bishopsgate & The Broadgate Tower, Liverpool Street, London, UK
Broadgate Tower : 3rd tallest building in City of London

Al Hamra & Firdous tower, Kuwait City
Al Hamra tower

Skidmore Owings & Merrill

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Contemporary Building Designs – recent architectural selection from e-architect below:

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