Weiss/Manfredi Win Competition for Korean Taekwondo Park

The Taekwondo Promotion Foundation is promoting to build The Taekwondo Park in Muju, Korea. 70 million athletes from 188 member nations are expected to come to Muju to train and be a representative of this Korean cultural brand.

The Taekwondo Park Master Plan International Competition recently announced New York based architects Weiss/Manfredi with their proposal “Body, Mind and Spirit” as competition winner for the park.

1st Prize: “Body, Mind and Spirit” by Weiss/Manfredi, USA

The design competition started in May 2008, inviting 7 prominent architects Chul Kong, Young Joon Kim, Junsung Kim, Sung-Yong Joh, Andres Perea Grtega, Diller Scofidio+Renfro and Weiss/Manfredi.

The jury committee, consisting of In Cheurl Kim, Seung Hong Park, Hyung Min Pai, Simone Carena and Richard England, chose 3 submissions as winners: Weiss/Manfredi, USA: “Body, Mind and Spirit” (1st winner), Sung-Yong Joh, Korea: “Power’s Hill” (2nd winner), and Chul Kong, Korea: “Old Wisdom” (3rd winner).

The prizewinning work is inspired by the rich spirit of Korea’s artistic, architectural and landscape design legacy. Topography and waterlines of the site comprise an integral part of the main BAEK-DU-DAE-GAN crest line and the figure of the tiger that embodies the dynamic character of the geography.

1st Prize: “Body, Mind and Spirit” by Weiss/Manfredi, USA

Six bridges and an ascending route, representing the Taekwondo belt colors, link the spectacle of the arena to the solitude of the uppermost water terraces. The jury highly valued the design’s harmonizing effect between nature and man.

The Taekwondo Park, with a total area of 2,314,049 m², facilitates the large Taekwondo arena, a research institute, Taekwonjeon, Myungingwan, training institute, exhibition hall, youth hostel, etc. With work starting in 2009, completion is scheduled for 2013.

Images by Taekwondo Promotion Foundation.