Seoul to build huge two-ring Ferris wheel for $700 mn

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Sunday unveiled the design of a Ferris wheel, tentatively named Seoul Twin Eye, which it plans to complete by 2028 as a landmark of the city in a 910.2 billion won ($702 million) project.

The spokeless Ferris wheel features two rings intersecting in an X shape and an open center of the wheels with a diameter of 180 meters. That compares with its original concept of a plain circle.

In March, the capital city of South Korea announced that it would build the world’s second-largest Ferris wheel, then to be called the Seoul Ring, on a former landfill site on the northern bank of the Han River running through Seoul.

The proposed Ferris wheel will offer a panoramic view of Seoul from a height of 220 meters. To be built more than 40m above the ground, Seoul Twin Eye will thus stand taller than the world's largest Ferris wheel, Ain Dubai Ferris, in the United Arab Amirates, at 210m.

British design company Arup, which designed the London Eye, a major tourist attraction in London, participated in the project plan and reviewed the proposed structure’s earthquake and wind resistance.

The spokeless structure will be built in a similar way to the Bohai Eye Ferris wheel in Weifang, China. Unveiled in 2018, the steel structure of the world’s largest spokeless Ferris wheel is minimally exposed to enhance its external appearance.

The Seoul Twin Eye project is estimated to cost 910.2 billion won, more than twice the city’s earlier estimate of 400 billion won. Seoul will fund the project, led by the Seoul Housing & Communities Corp., through private sector investments.

Seoul plans to embark on the construction around 2025, after undergoing a final-phase review by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. SK Ecoplant Co. is in charge of the construction.

CULTURAL FACILITIES

Seoul Twin Eye will accommodate 64 capsules, each of them able to carry 20-25 people at once. In total, it can provide rides to more than 1,400 people simultaneously, much more than some 800 for the London Eye.

The location of Seoul Twin Eye will be changed from a landfill in Sangam-dong to closer to the World Cup Stadium Station on Subway Line 6 due to concerns about the bearing capacity of the earlier proposed landfill site.

Various cultural facilities will be built underneath the Ferris wheel. The lower space supporting the Seoul Twin Eye is expected to house a performance hall and other spaces to create a cultural complex.

The proposal also included plans to build a monorail connecting the subway station to the Ferris wheel, as well as a zip line, where visitors can descend on a rope.

“We will make Seoul Twin Eye a landmark that enhances the charm of Seoul by utilizing its original design and public nature,” said Hong Sun-ki, director general at the Future Urban Spaces Planning Bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Write to Hae Ryon Choi at haeryon@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.