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Architects: Indiesalon
- Area: 31 m²
- Year: 2025


Heatherwick Studio has unveiled the first images of the design for the transformation of the Daegyo Apartments in Yeouido, Seoul. The project, the firm's first residential project in South Korea, was presented by Thomas Heatherwick to the Yeouido Daegyo Residents' Union at a meeting of their General Assembly on February 28, 2026. The development was first announced in mid-2025 as a community-led residential redevelopment, with the studio remaining involved throughout all phases of the project from concept to completion. The design is set to transform four residential buildings from 1975, aiming to establish a distinctive and appealing character, distinct from the average apartment building in Seoul.


Across history, the relocation of capital cities has often been associated with moments of political rupture, regime change, or symbolic nation-building. From Brasília to Islamabad, new capitals were frequently conceived as instruments of centralized power, territorial control, or ideological projection. In recent decades, however, a different set of drivers has begun to shape these decisions. Rather than security or representation alone, contemporary capital relocations are increasingly tied to structural pressures such as demographic concentration, infrastructural saturation, environmental risk, and long-term resource management. As metropolitan regions expand beyond their capacity to sustain population growth and administrative functions, governments are turning to spatial reconfiguration as a means of addressing systemic urban imbalance.



