EWHA Womans University, Dominque Perrault Architecture, green roof, seoul, south korea, underground building, eco university

EWHA Woman’s University is Korea’s first educational institution for women and is located in the Shinchon area of Seoul. Dominique Perrault won an international competition to design the complex, which was completed in 2008. The campus complex is a large-scale underground structure consisting of approximately 66,000 sq m of floor area with a total of 6 levels below the ground. The building houses underground parking garages, classroom space, a cafeteria, and exhibition space. Circulation through and in between the buildings offers a direct route for students and area residents and weaves the facility into the urban space.

Glass facades on either sides of the building allow for penetration of natural daylight even though the buildings are technically underground. The rooftop gardens are part landscape and part sculpture and provide extra green space for the university as well as the city. The central canyon gently slopes down and then steeply ramps up with a broad staircase and serves multiple purposes for the complex. This large plaza provides access to a number of departments along the building, each appropriately numbered. The space also serves as a forum for gatherings, outdoor lecture areas, outdoor seating and eating, exhibition space and the stairs provide seating for a natural amphitheater.

+ Dominique Perrault Architecture

+ EWHA Woman’s University

Via ArchDaily

Images ©André Morin / DPA / Adagp