'It looked like a prison' — Seoul's Nodeul Island reborn as arts destination

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Friday released the fifth episode of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's "Top-Tutor Mayor" video series, titled "From Prison Island to a Hot Arts Destination Everyone Visits" — the Nodeul Island edition — on the mayor's official website and the city's social broadcast channel Live Seoul.

In the roughly 10-minute video, Oh walks through the waterfront cultural space that opened in September, recounting the full story of Nodeul Island, which has drawn attention as a popular spot for riverside picnics. He explains the island's journey from a sandbank to an artificial island, through the collapse of an opera house plan and the creation of community gardens, and on to the vision of the "Nodeul Global Arts Island" set for completion in 2030.

Oh said Nodeul Island was originally a sandbank in the Han River, and that soil was piled up there in 1917 to support the piers of the Han River pedestrian bridge. After the area was reclaimed in the early 1970s and took on the shape of an island, various development ideas emerged — including hotels and performance venues. In the 1990s, someone proposed turning it into an "arts hill" where painters would gather, modeled on Montmartre in Paris. None of those plans came to fruition, and for a long time the island remained largely inaccessible to the public.

Then-Mayor Lee Myung-bak later purchased the site for about 25 billion won ($18.6 million) and pushed to build an opera house, a project Oh inherited when he first took office. The effort stalled amid design negotiations, a public competition process and opposition from the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and the project hit a turning point when the mayoral seat changed hands. After former Mayor Park Won-soon took office, the original plan was scrapped and community vegetable gardens were planted on the island instead.

Oh said there had been criticism that a site purchased for hundreds of billions of won was being used as farmland by about 600 residents, and that the mixed-use cultural complex later built there drew complaints that its concrete-box architecture looked "like a prison." When Oh returned to office, discussions about the original arts island concept were revived.

In 2023, Oh selected Nodeul Island as the first public-sector project under his "Urban and Architectural Design Innovation Plan" and began formally pursuing the Nodeul Global Arts Island. The design was chosen through an open competition among domestic and international architects, with a citizen evaluation panel taking part in what the city called a "public audition." The winning entry was "Soundscape" by Thomas Heatherwick.

The design preserves the existing structures rather than demolishing them, adding a sky garden on top and a water garden on the Han River, linking the island's eastern and western ends as well as its ground, waterfront and aerial levels. The plan expands Nodeul Island from a place where visitors tended to cluster in a few spots into one where the entire island can be enjoyed for walking, relaxation and cultural activities.

"A space will be created where anyone can come for a stroll and enjoy the magnificent sunrise and sunset over the Han River," Oh said.

The first tangible result of the Nodeul Global Arts Island project was the waterfront cultural space that opened Sept. 18. A former waste dump and parking lot was transformed into a play garden, and the path leading down to the water's edge was redesigned as a "gap garden" that has become a popular photography spot. Walking paths and lawns offering views of both banks of the Han River were also added. The space drew 104,000 visitors in its first 10 days and about 450,000 by the end of October.

A water garden for performances and relaxation is planned for Nodeul Island in 2027, followed in 2030 by a sky arts garden built atop the existing structures, where visitors will be able to walk while taking in views of the Han River and the Seoul skyline.

"By 2030, a sky garden will be built over the existing structures, completing another landmark for Seoul where citizens can stroll while enjoying a magnificent view," Oh said.

Meanwhile, an online survey commissioned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and conducted by Korea Research from Oct. 14 to 19 among 1,000 Seoul residents aged 18 and older found that 80.2 percent of respondents supported the project, while 82.2 percent said they intended to visit in the future.

The Nodeul Global Arts Island project was previously named the top work in the public architecture category of the "2025 Seoul Citizens' Choice of 30 Architectural Designs."