IFEZ to build 'Terrace Town' and Edison-themed museum

The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) will build a residential complex with terraces and a Thomas Edison-themed museum to help boost culture and tourism in Songdo. IFEZ Commissioner Kim Jin-yong inked a memorandum of understanding on...

A design image of ″Yoo Hyunjoon Terrace Town″ to be built in Songdo. The residential complex is stacked in a zigzag pattern to secure the privacy of the apartment houses, each attached with a terrace. [INTERNATIONAL FREE ECONOMIC ZONE]

The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) will build a residential complex with terraces and a Thomas Edison-themed museum to help boost culture and tourism in Songdo.

IFEZ Commissioner Kim Jin-yong inked a memorandum of understanding on building the facilities with Son Sung-mok, head of Chamrosi Gramophone & Edison Museum, and Yoo Hyun-joon, principal of Hyunjoon Yoo Architects and a professor of architecture at Hongik University, at Songdo G-Tower in Incheon on Thursday.

The science museum, tentatively named after Edison, will exhibit pieces collected by Son, including the world’s first electric vehicle and the first projector. The Edison-themed museum will be constructed under the science theme of “saving light and sound,” aimed at attracting overseas tourists and field trips to the waterfront town. The museum's exhibits will use light, sound and video.

The terrace town, designed by Yoo, an established architecture scholar in Korea, will be a residential complex that eliminates the existing problems of Korea’s apartment houses by securing privacy and providing a harmonious view with the surrounding scenery.

Each house in the complex will have a separate terrace attached, and the houses will be stacked in a zigzag pattern to secure the residents’ privacy. The first floor of the complex will be supported by pilotis, or columns, that allow for an open, public area providing a place for social gathering nearby the lake park.

“The residential area is the last remaining ground for an apartment complex on the lakefronts of Songdo,” said the IFEZ commissioner. “IFEZ will do its best to support the construction of these facilities and improve the city’s brand power.”

BY SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]