area 111 | zero volume

architect: MVRDV

location: Anyang Resort Art Valley, South Korea

year: 2006

A path which is leading to a small peak is located on top of central summit in Anyang resort. Anyang resort is a park which boomed during the 70-80’s and been redundant during the past decade because it couldn’t follow up the change of society. The outdoor swimming pool which was the most important program couldn’t attract people any more because they could easily find the better one. And as the traffic improves, they could travel further away for nicer scenery. Even though it has a spectacular landscape, it just functions as a mountain entrance with scattered restaurants and bars. One way to revitalize this area is to emphasize the natural wonders that are there already. Nature could be intensified. A viewing tower is proposed, supercharging the hill into Anyang Peak. The path leading up the hill, an essential element of the park, is used as a tool to generate this idea. The spiral path becomes the tower, extending the hill seamlessly.
Two contour lines from the top were used to shape the path. One forms the outer spiral and another one forms the inside spiral line. As these two contours offsets inwards, the width of the path varies. The minimal width which is 1.5 m was the guiding line for these two contours. And the inclination of the path was fixed as 1/10 slope. A 146 m long path with a four rings forms the 14.6 m (92+14.6=106.6 m) height peak which covers 160 sqm area. The internal void acts as a pavilion; it can hold a small exhibition or installation. The space can also be used as a performance space, allowing visitors to look down on the stage on top of the hill. The path encircles the peak turning it into a destination.

MVRDV was set up in Rotterdam (Netherlands) in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. In close collaboration the three principal architect directors produce designs and studies in the fields of architecture, urbanism and landscape design. Early projects such as the headquarters for the Public Broadcasting Company VPRO and the WoZoCo housing for elderly in Amsterdam brought MVRDV to the attention of a wide field of clients and lead to international acclaim.
Realized projects include the Dutch Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover, an innovative business park ‘Flight Forum’ in Eindhoven, the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam, the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan, Unterföhring office campus near Munich, the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, an urban plan and housing in The Hague Ypenburg, the rooftop – housing extension Didden Village in Rotterdam, the cultural centre De Effenaar in Eindhoven, the boutique shopping building Gyre in Tokyo, Veldhoven’s Maxima Medical Centre and the iconic housing projects Mirador and Celosia in Madrid. Current projects in progress or on site include various housing projects in the Netherlands, Spain, China, France, Austria, the United Kingdom, USA, Korea, India and other countries, a television centre for Zürich, a bank headquarter building in Oslo, a public library in Spijkenisse (Netherlands), a central market hall in Rotterdam, a culture plaza in Nanjing, China, large scale urban masterplans in Oslo, Norway, Tirana, Albania and a masterplan for an eco-city in Logroño, Spain. Large scale visions for the future of greater Paris and the doubling in size of Dutch new town Almere are developed.