Lotte Super Tower / KPF

Oct 2009

By Sebastian J — Filed under: Skyscrapers , KPF, Seoul, South Korea

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Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the international architecture firm headquartered in New York, announced it has completed the conceptual design for Lotte Super Tower 123 in Seoul, South Korea. The 555-meter (1,821 feet), 123-story tower, when completed in 2014, will be the tallest building in Asia and the world’s second tallest after the Burj Dubai.

Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) was selected earlier this year after an international design competition by owner/developer Lotte Group, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates. This long anticipated project has now earned all major zoning approvals, and excavation is nearly complete. The building will serve as Lotte’s new corporate headquarters and will be built by Lotte Construction, a subsidiary of the group. Architect’s description after the break.

The architectural team is led by KPF design principal James von Klemperer. The concept melds a modern aesthetic with forms inspired by the historic Korean arts of ceramics, porcelain, and calligraphy. “The tower’s uninterrupted curvature and gentle tapered form is reflective of Korean artistry. The seam that runs from top to bottom of the structure gestures toward the old center of city,” said von Klemperer. “Elegance of form was one of our prime objectives, following Lotte’s desire to bestow a beautiful monument to the capital city skyline,” he added. The overall form of the tower will stand out from the city’s rugged mountainous topography as a slender tapered cone. Exterior materials will be light-toned glass accented by a filigree of metal.

A. Eugene Kohn, Chairman of KPF, said, “The Lotte Super Tower 123 will be Seoul’s new landmark building and a fitting representation of the eminent role of Lotte Group and its Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho in Korea.” Chairman Shin, now aged 87, is the founder of the company, known as a legend in the Korean business world for his vision and determination.

Lotte Super Tower 123 will sit astride a key transportation hub in the southern Jamsil section of the city near the Han River. Unlike other “super talls,” the Tower will be truly mixed-use, approaching the ideal of a vertical city. Uses include public transport connectors, retail, residential, offices, hotel, observation deck, and public space. The building’s first six floors will contain retail; offices will occupy floors 7 thru 60; 25 floors of residential will rise from floors 61- 85; and a 7-star luxury hotel will comprise floors 86-119. The dramatic culmination of the building will be a civic realm within its top four stories earmarked for extensive public use and entertainment facilities including an observation deck.

The design team is aiming to achieve a silver LEED accreditation, a measure of the owner’s commitment to environmental responsibility.

Currently, four super tower projects, each one more than 100 stories, are being planned in the Seoul area, with the Lotte project being the most advanced in its schedule. Korean contractors have been responsible for building two of the world’s tallest buildings, in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, and are now poised to bring this experience to their own country.

Cite:
Jordana , Sebastian . "Lotte Super Tower / KPF" 25 Oct 2009. ArchDaily. Accessed 09 Feb 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/38768>

Comments (26)
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Links to this entry (4)

leogar says:

whats with guys always competing to see who has the longest building? I mean tallest.

# October 25, 2009 at 12:41

Dustin says:

I think this is great, after living in South Korea for a few months it is nice to see they are starting to replace their boring post modern apartment and office buildings for nicer looking architecture.

# October 25, 2009 at 13:43

Tuf-Pak says:

The name is fun! Is that enough?

# October 25, 2009 at 20:33

arch says:

tall architecture does not mean good architecture. this building is lame. they should have put some thought into the design.

# October 25, 2009 at 22:19

@Tuf-pak… lotte is a company in South Korea that makes just about anything. You see it all over the place, from lotte candy, lotte world amusment park, lotte mart, lotte hotels, etc.

@Arch… what is lame about the building? I think its a very elegant building that relates well to its context despite its large size. Please explain.

# October 25, 2009 at 22:40

lame means just shiny and tall, could have been more innovative

# October 26, 2009 at 05:38

utopianrobot says:

i don’t think we can say much at all about this tower as all we can see are two presentation renderings.

# October 27, 2009 at 12:51

Lucas says:

simple architecture is inovation nowadays.

# October 27, 2009 at 00:37

Doug says:

Looks like Princess Amidala landed her Nubian Royal Starship on its rear. Far more elegant than the Burj Dubai. Imagine a cityscape filled with a series of these towers at different scales and orientations.

# October 25, 2009 at 22:38

Dad says:

That would be very terrible.

# October 25, 2009 at 23:19

dwi wahyono says:

a very bright idea to build a beautiful building

# October 26, 2009 at 08:42

Ryan says:

Actually, Gensler is completing a 600m tower in Shanghai before this one will finish, so this will be the 3rd tallest building in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Tower

# October 26, 2009 at 11:55

Nik says:

small observation, you realize that Dubai is in Asia?

# October 26, 2009 at 12:32

Alby says:

ah ah!
so right…!

# October 26, 2009 at 21:47

anavic says:

The problem of skycrapers is that they are normally projected as if they were alone in the area. Then people start to build some more close to the others and it seems like a competition.

# October 26, 2009 at 13:56

Andrew Geber says:

looks great!

# October 26, 2009 at 14:24

Somchai says:

I think South Korea’s success in the architectural arena has to do a lot with their commitment to technology. I remember reading that South Korea is the most “wired” city, and with the fastest public Internet connection. When the rest of Asia follows Korea’s lead, then Asia will also share in more economic success stories.

# October 26, 2009 at 20:17

e says:

Actually Japan wins for the fastest internet connections as well as the cheapest.

http://files.redux.com/images/b3a38a65dc1991703826b71ef1d2e752/raw

I don’t think quality architecture directly relates to fast internet though.

# October 27, 2009 at 06:37

Aaron says:

actually no, south korea has the fastest public internet and highest percentage of connected households

# May 20, 2011 at 16:49

E says:

Looks a lot better than that oily turd in Dubai.

# October 27, 2009 at 04:05

janlist says:

how can we find any relation to korean culture as said?

# October 28, 2009 at 22:09

Kevin says:

Brilliant… another place from which the rich and powerful can look down on the rest of us from their ‘ivory tower’. They literatly couldn’t be any further away from their customers!

# October 29, 2009 at 10:27

JRA says: