Open Government Office through the Void: A Theoretical Reading of the Sinwol 2-dong Open Design Competition by Seoul Metropolitan Government

Abstract

(Background and Purpose) Government office buildings have traditionally been closed, authority-driven spaces that are disconnected from daily urban life. In contrast, this study explores the Sinwol 2-dong Government Office design proposal as a case of the “Open Government Office,” where the void functions as a practical design strategy to foster urban connectivity and publicness. Through programmatic analysis, the void was organized both as a shared space and as a neutral, indeterminate space, suggesting a methodological expansion beyond abstract discourse. (Method) This study analyzes the influence of void spaces on functional layouts, programmatic networks, and urban connectivity. To this end, national and international precedents were reviewed to identify the shift from closed to open planning, and the Sinwol 2-dong proposal was examined in terms of plans, sections, program distribution, circulation systems, and external interfaces. A literature review, drawing analysis, and programmatic connectivity assessment were combined to derive the spatial and social roles of void strategies and to evaluate their applicability and limitations. (Results) The findings indicate that the void is not a residual gap but an architectural device that reorganizes and integrates public programs to generate new interactions. In the Sinwol 2-dong Government Office, programs such as the book café, hall, lobby, and parts of the community service center were arranged around the void, fostering both vertical and horizontal flows and functioning as mediating spaces open to citizens. Although constrained by its residential surroundings, which limited direct openness, the void demonstrated a strong potential to enhance accessibility and publicness. These results resonate with theoretical notions of the “empty place” as a locus of potential and with precedents such as Koolhaas’s Melun-Sénart Masterplan, suggesting the scalability of void strategies to the urban level. (Conclusions) This study shows that voids can operate as transformative spatial devices in government office design, restructuring programmatic relationships and mediating between residents and administrative functions. By concentrating on public programs around the void, the proposal created a continuous open flow where citizens and the administration intersected in everyday life, repositioning the government office from a closed authority to an accessible civic realm. Although limited site conditions revealed that a void alone cannot guarantee full openness, its role as a principle for reinforcing accessibility and publicness remains clear. As such, the void constitutes not only an effective methodology for open government office design, but also a spatial principle extendable to the scale of the city, carrying significance for both practical application and academic discourse.mic discourse.