Experience Nature and Korean Culture at Mulmangol Wellness Preserve

Reconnecting with Nature: The Mulmangol Wellness Preserve Project

CO Architects, a renowned architectural studio, introduces their latest project, the Mulmangol Wellness Preserve. The project aims to transform an underground military bunker in Busan, South Korea, into a wellness preserve that connects locals and international visitors to Korean culture, nature, and each other. In a world of overwhelming built and digital environments, the Mulmangol Wellness Preserve offers individuals a chance to disconnect from busy lives and static structures, and reconnect with themselves, their community, and nature.

A Three-Strata Experience

The Mulmangol Wellness Preserve offers a journey of disconnecting and reconnecting that happens on three different levels: underground, on ground, and above ground. The architecture, strategically carved from the landscape, serves as a sensorial and cultural experience, rather than a formal object. Programs stretched across the different levels create varying perspectives as visitors disconnect from the bustling city and begin to wander, indulge, and reconnect with nature.

A Symbolic Oasis

The Mulmangol Wellness Preserve takes on the symbolic meaning of its name, “plenty of water.” The design incorporates embedded moments of water, which serves as a source of life, healing, and cleansing for both the mind and body. By excavating earth above a portion of the bunkers, dark and abandoned spaces have been opened up and integrated into the natural environment as a serene bath. The preserve invites visitors (locals and tourists) to talk to each other, sit down and look up at the sky, and form ideas among trees, rather than among skyscrapers.

A Cultural and Artistic Haven

The Mulmangol Wellness Preserve also serves as a cultural and artistic haven, with stages for Korean culture and the arts integrated throughout the space. These stages live in the form of exhibition spaces, such as treehouses that emerge from the dense canopies and an intimate exterior performance venue nestled in the rear of the site. Organic and prescribed paths intertwine through the various stages, offering visitors a chance to indulge in Korean culture and the arts while reconnecting with nature.

In conclusion, the Mulmangol Wellness Preserve project is a conceptual proposal that aims to transform an underground military bunker into a wellness preserve that connects individuals to Korean culture, nature, and each other. The project offers visitors a chance to disconnect from the overwhelming built and digital environments within cities and reconnect with themselves, their community, and nature. With embedded moments of water and cultural and artistic spaces integrated throughout the space, the Mulmangol Wellness Preserve serves as a symbolic oasis and cultural and artistic haven.

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