In Mulmangol village, a small town sitting on the foothills of Hwangnyoengsan Mountain in Busan, there is an underground bunker facility that has been left unattended for the past several decades. It is a one-of-a-kind urban site in Korea. As part of its urban renewal project, Busan Metropolitan City recently decided to provide administrative support for a speedy regeneration project of the underground bunker. Accordingly, Kyungdong Construction Co., Ltd., which owns 13 million square meters of land in that area including the 4,000 square meter underground bunker, decided to develop the underground facility in conjunction with the ground landscape. The underground bunker facility, part of which existed as a cave since the Japanese colonial era, was constructed as a military operation facility in 1968. It had been left unattended until lately and was finally registered as a legitimate structure for neighborhood living and storage purposes in March this year.
With its unique spatial structure and annual average temperature of 12.9℃, this bunker provides an interesting sense of place to its visitors. In addition to a residential zone formed around the bunker, Hwangnyoengsan Mountain spread widely across the area surrounding the bunker. The surrounding tourism resources and natural environment such as the Beacon Tower and the Observatory on top of Hwangnyoengsan Mountain, in particular, are important points to consider for the bunker development. As for the residential zone near the bunker, there is the Mulmangol village, a high-density low-income residential area, and a redevelopment area where a high-rise apartment complex is currently under construction. In addition, the entire site including the bunker is located in a downtown area very close to the Busan City Hall and has easy access to both the subway and bus stations. These features of surrounding environment, through the development of the whole area and especially the renewal of the bunker, should naturally
contribute to the improvement of surrounding residential area and also provide the appeal of downtown tourist destination.
The basic plan of Kyungdong Construction Co., Ltd. is to interconnect the bunker and the ground site so as to develop it as a creative and unique place worthy of becoming a famous sight in Busan. The organizers of this competition are fully aware that the most important for this bunker regeneration and ground development project is a creative idea for the development program. Thus, the outstanding program proposed through this competition may lead to a working design after careful review. It is hoped that the program proposed will contribute to the development and improved socio-cultural publicity of the community. It is also expected that the proposed program concurrently takes into consideration the financial feasibility of the plan in terms of actual development and operation.
Busan is an international port city where many developments have been promoted along the coast. While the seaside advanced residential area, cultural spaces, industrial facilities and commercial establishments are leading the development of Busan, the development and renewal plan for the downtown hillside and bunker is expected to create an attractive space highlighting its unique facility and thereby greatly contribute to the revitalization of rundown downtown area. With an idea that the most important priority for this development and regeneration project based on the unique spatial structure of the area is the discovery of a brilliant program, the organizers of this competition expect many talented people from various fields to propose creative and unique ideas.
