The Han River has long functioned as one of Seoul’s representative waterfront spaces and a major public realm within the city. However, patterns of waterfront use have predominantly been shaped around walking and visual observation. Despite the rive...
The Han River has long functioned as one of Seoul’s representative waterfront spaces and a major public realm within the city. However, patterns of waterfront use have predominantly been shaped around walking and visual observation. Despite the river’s close physical proximity, the relationship between people and water has tended to remain limited to visual perception. In response to this condition, this study focuses on the necessity of spatial configurations that enable more active engagement with water and support sustained staying experiences along the waterfront.
A water pavilion is understood as a spatial type that mediates water, architecture, and urban programs, offering the potential to accommodate diverse forms of experience and occupancy within waterfront environments. Accordingly, this study explores the concept and contemporary trends of water pavilions and examines international precedents to identify their spatial characteristics. Through the analysis of contemporary water pavilion cases, four core elements were derived: environmental mediation, programmatic flexibility, sensory engagement with water, and the expansion of publicness. These elements were subsequently applied as analytical criteria for understanding how water, space, and the urban environment establish relationships.
Based on this framework, the Han River waterfront adjacent to the Seoul Sports Complex was selected as the project site. Although the Seoul Sports Complex is a large-scale sports facility located in close proximity to the Han River, the spatial connection between the waterfront and its interior spaces has remained limited. To address this condition, the formation and transformation of the Seoul Sports Complex, along with the ongoing remodeling master plan, were analyzed to examine the site’s spatial characteristics and waterfront context. Within this process, the water pavilion was positioned as an intermediate zone linking the Seoul Sports Complex and the Han River waterfront, and the design direction was developed around experiences of staying mediated by water.
The design proposal incorporates water-based leisure programs while presupposing a spatial structure that remains accessible to all users regardless of participation in specific activities. Users follow a spatial sequence that begins at an information space and continues through a lounge, water space, cafe and archive, water garden, and observation areas. Throughout this sequence, water is perceived both visually and sensorially. Rather than assuming fixed patterns of use, circulation and programs were planned to allow flexibility according to time of day and modes of use.
This study is significant in that it interprets the water pavilion as a spatial type that gradually shapes the relationship between water and people along the Han River waterfront, while presenting a design proposal integrated with the existing sports infrastructure of the Seoul Sports Complex. Through this approach, the research seeks to suggest one possible direction for a public space that enables sensorial engagement with water and supports extended staying experiences along the Han River.