Cheonggyecheon
— — a stream the city took back from a freeway.
Not only on a wall.
“An 11-kilometre stream cutting through the centre of Seoul, two metres below street level, the office towers reflecting on the water. Until 2003 a covered concrete highway ran above it. The city pulled the highway down and brought the stream back. People eat lunch on the stone steps. At night the bridges light up in slow colour and couples walk the length of it. from the studio
Cheonggyecheon, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Cheonggyecheon is an 11-kilometre urban stream that runs east through the centre of Seoul, from Cheonggye Plaza near Gwanghwamun out to the Jungnangcheon and the Han River. It was buried under concrete in the 1950s and capped by the elevated Cheonggye Expressway in 1976. In 2003 the city demolished the expressway and exposed the streambed. The 900 billion-won restoration opened in September 2005 and pumps roughly 120,000 tonnes of water a day from the Han to keep the stream flowing through the dry months.
The stream is shallow, mostly ankle to knee deep, with cut-stone embankments stepping down from street level on both sides. Twenty-two bridges cross it; several preserve abutments from the original Joseon-era spans, including Gwanggyo and Supyogyo. Carp, dace, and the occasional grey heron returned within a year of reopening. The water is pumped and recirculated rather than drawn from a natural headwater, so it runs clear even in midsummer. Heavy rain raises the level fast, and the riverside paths close when the monitors trigger.
The walk is free, open at all hours, and reached by Line 5 at Gwanghwamun Station or Line 1 at Jonggak. The most-photographed stretch is the first kilometre east of Cheonggye Plaza, where the Spring sculpture rises 20 metres above the entry. Evenings draw the largest crowds; the bridge lighting turns on around sunset. The Seoul Lantern Festival fills the channel with paper lanterns each November. Allow an hour for the central section and three hours to walk the full length out to the Han River.