Fin Tower | EAST4

The main concept for the Fin Tower was first derived from the Site's distinct characteristics and fast-evolving environment. The Fin Tower is located at Euljiro 7th street, Junggu, Seoul facing towards Sindangdong across from Dongdaemun's DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza). The area around Dongdaemun is boisterous. Even people's movements, difference between day/night time and surrounding architecture design exactly reflects the busy location as well. Every element doesn't have any similarities and have different distinct appearances and characteristics. The Fin Tower wanted to be along with other buildings which adopts the same language as well. Three words, 'Camouflage', 'reflection' and 'origami' gave inspiration to determine standards for the building's Form, Function and Character.

The main color of the building's exterior is white and gray. Besides the transparent glass, which reflects the site perimeter, the front facade towards the main road is all white. The gray concrete at the background conceals the white mass while acts as a joint among the two sites. A 5M high Exterior space was planned at the 5th and 10th floor of the rear Concrete mass to act as a frame to capture the panoramic view of the city white providing a space for the people to experience and interact with the change of nature. The design maximized the openness of the groundfloor by specifying a 5M high folding door at the facade following up to the second floor. The groundfloor was spaciously designed to minimize wasted space by utilizing the area near the surrounding buildings as a connector between the main and secondary entries while also simultaneously introducing landscape elements to create a pleasant, seamless experience and by directly connecting the entrance to the main staircase. The Staircase not only functions as a vertical circulation element but as a resting place by presenting a spacious horizontal platform to view the exterior. Meanwhile, the exterior view of the staircase acts as an important design element for the tower itself as well. An exterior terrace was placed at the 10th, 11th and 12th floor of the tower with folding doors so people could enjoy the views of the DDP and the gorgeous streets and to greatly emphasize ventilation and natural sunlight. Also the rooftop was fully landscaped so nature could be enjoyed 50 meters above the city.

The Fin tower was first finalized in my own world of imagination and through a lot of people's effort, it appeared to the actual real world. I hope the Fin Tower continuously adopts the city's future characteristics and becomes a trademark while representing the new city's appearance. Written by Joonho Park