Out of the ordinary: Green Acropolis in South Korea

Rotterdam-based architects MVRDV has won the Gwanggyo City Centre Competition for their design of an incredible new city south of Seoul, South Korea. Envisioned as a verdant series of ‘hill' structures, the "City of Green Rings" will be a self-sufficient city for up to 77 000 inhabitants comprising housing, offices, shops, and educational facilities. Designed as a cluster of concentric rings, each floor in the city is lined with lush box hedges that improve ventilation and reduce energy and water usage. An internal irrigation system will store water from the buildings and use it to sustain the green facades. Development is to be completed in 2011 and construction expected to start shortly after. www.mvrdv.nl