Seepri Bridge Design Competition, Ulsan
A dynamic sculpture is sought, to create a sense of the whales rising up out of the river through the bridge and heading towards the festival site: a family of ghost whales swimming through the bridge. The largest of the three whales straddles the bridge, at the entry point into the festival area, and people attending the festival walk through this whale.
Description of the Project
This proposal is for Ulsan Metropolitan Council. It forms part of Ulsan’s new annual Garden Festival, to be laid out along a site flanking the Taehwa River. The proposal is to adapt the existing pedestrian bridge that serves the festival site. The client’s brief was to consider a reinterpretation of the most identifiable image for Ulsan, that of the whale, reflecting Ulsan’s long tradition as a whaling port.
Three whales are proposed, creating a family, reflecting the social nature of whales. The whales are represented via a complex diagrid geometry in metal; these create a series of abstracted sculptures (rather than seeking a ‘realistic’ form for the whales). The open diagrid also minimises the weight of each sculpture, and reduces wind loads on the bridge.
The whales would be lit at night. LED lights placed on all the structural nodes, inside and out, creating a sense of an illuminated ghost.
A whale soundscape will be created, via a sequence of hidden speakers distributed across the bridge, playing recordings of whales, creating an echo of their presence, thereby emphasising a connection with the whales through sound.
This project was undertaken in collaboration with Chang-Jo Architects, Seoul.
