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| The main atrium topped with a glass dome at Noksapyeong Station. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
'Nature-themed' public art project revitalizes Noksapyeong Station
By Lee Suh-yoon
Noksapyeong Station, a Line 6 subway stop located at the juncture of Itaewon, Haebangchon and the future Yongsan Park, is now a walk-through art gallery.
With an impressive sunlit atrium extending 35 meters underground, Noksapyeong Station has stood out since its opening in December 2000, serving as a backdrop for various films and dramas. Its interior was upgraded recently with art installations in a year-long project funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metro.
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| White metal mesh panels line the atrium. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
The journey from the subway platform on the fifth subbasement floor to the ground floor near the glass ceiling dome is designed to evoke a literal ascension from the Earth to the heavens.
Once off the train, commuters are greeted with vivid mineral patterns, which one may find on rocks, on walls and platform doors of this "cave-themed" floor. One floor up, aluminum wire nets that mimic green and gold foliage swing from ceilings next to wooden pillars ― a minimalistic rendition of a forest.
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| Art installations on the forest-themed fourth basement floor of Noksapyeong Station / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
Outside the turnstile gates, a newly furbished atrium rises through the rest of the floors to the 42-meter diameter dome at the surface. White mesh panels enclose the airy space like a bird cage, trapping natural light from above finely scattering it across the hall like a "light fog," according to written description posted at the station.
Traveling up to the surface in this open soft-lit space with the escalator feels dreamy.
"By creating a unique space inside an everyday quarter like a subway station, people can experience art," Lee Jae-joon, one of the architects of the joint project, said after the opening ceremony on March 14.
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| Cave and rock-themed artwork on Noksapyeong Station's platform / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
The nature motifs for the artworks were inspired by the station's name ― Noksapyeong ― which literally means "lush grassland" in Korean. The site above the station was covered with weeds and largely unpopulated until the end of the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom.
Keeping with this theme of nature, the circular hall at the fourth basement floor now hosts a small garden with bamboo-covered paths and a seating area topped with potted plants. The 600 plants in this garden are all sustained by natural light from the glass dome above. The city plans to host various gardening programs for Seoul residents here.
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| A path on the fourth subbasement floor of Noksapyeong Station / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
On the same floor, a short passageway connecting the atrium to the subway platform hosts a multimedia art installation titled "Flow," designed by Jung Jin-soo, the artist who directed the music videos of well-known K-pop stars like EXO-CBX and SHINEE. Featuring a long strip of LED screen on each side, the flow of nature is juxtaposed with the flow of people in the city through recorded video.
Due to its depth ― equivalent to 11 subterranean floors in a normal office building ― Noksapyeong was one of the most expensive stations to be built on Line 6. Its cavernous five-floor space was designed to hold more commuters than it currently services, as it was originally supposed to become a transit hub between lines 6 and 11. But the plans for subway lines 10 through 12 were later scrapped. Around 15,000 people pass through the station every day.
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| The seating area at a small garden on the fourth basement floor of Noksapyeong Station / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
City-run walking tours along the periphery of the future Yongsan Park, Haebangchon and Itaewon will start at the first basement floor of the station every Thursday during March and every Thursday and Saturday from April. Tours are free but prior registration must be made at yeyak.seoul.go.kr.
