INTERNATIONAL
YEONGCHEON HORSE PARK
W
hat was the brief
for the project?
The competition,
launched by the
Korea Racing
Authority (KRA),
was aimed at reinventing the culture
surrounding horse racing to primarily
appeal to a wider spectrum of people, as
well as drawing together the ancillary
activities offered by a horse-themed park
situated within the foothills of a forest
overlooking a beautiful lake.
The principle problem that the KRA had
was that horse racing is perceived as a sort
of low-grade betting sport in South Korea,
it is looked down upon as gambling, so they
wanted to elevate its reputation and add
some prominence to it by introducing it to
a wider spectre of audience.
The site itself was almost 1.5m square
metres of beautifully located space
overlooking a lake and valley in the
foothills of the mountains. What interested
us in the project was the stunning location
and the large opportunity that the space
provided.
30
Landscape Insight | April 2018
How did you respond to the brief?
The mountain peak on the site acts as a
focal point with multiple purposes - not
only is it a typographical divider within
the landscape but also a grandstand
offering an array of cultural activities with
a stunning view from a large green roof.
From here you get a real sense of the vast
open plains which overlook the lake. The
viewing platform draws together the open
landscape, where the horses can run freely,
and on the other side of the mountain
is the Horse Rehabilitation Centre, a
centre for horse-assisted therapy, which
creates a fascinating juxtaposition with
the excitement and high energy of the race
itself.
The main challenge was exploring the
relationship between man and horse and
how to elevate the sport of horse racing.
To answer this we had to fully understand
what that relationship entails. What we
found was that it is about excitement,
speed which is rather obvious but then