This article is by Michael Lee and read by an artificial voice.

Of all the targets for redevelopment by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, few have experienced as many fits and halts as Nodeul Island, a small artificial island in the middle of the Han River that the city is now transforming into what it anticipates will be a "global cultural landmark."
The 370.4 billion won ($259 million) "Nodeul Global Art Island" project, which is being led by British architect Thomas Heatherwick and is due for completion in 2028, will add new walkways and elevated gardens to the existing cultural complex on the island's western end.

The plan by Heatherwick, who designed Coal Drops Yard in London and the Vessel in New York, divides the island into two main zones: the "Sky Art Garden," featuring seven elevated pavilions that bear more than a passing resemblance to his previous work on Little Island in Manhattan, and the "Waterside Cultural Zone," a venue for concerts and art exhibitions. Seoul officials say the design aims to balance architecture and ecology - a hallmark of Heatherwick's work - while reconnecting the island with city life.
The ongoing reinvention of Nodeul Island marks another change in the small island's century of flux, reflecting the capital's larger struggle to decide what, exactly, the Han River should be.
Island of constant transformation

For residents and visitors to Seoul, Nodeul Island is a rare oasis of tranquility, even among the many parks along the Han River. Its unique location in the middle of the river, with a lawn facing the skyscrapers of Yeouido to the west, has made it a popular gathering place, as well as a prime spot to watch the Seoul International Fireworks Festival in the autumn.
Park So-min, a 32-year-old graduate student who "occasionally" goes to Nodeul Island for weekend picnics, said, "There isn't another place on the river that has a better view of the sunset. Some afternoons, it can be tricky to find a spot on the grass to lay out a mat."
However, the island wasn't always such a gathering place. In the early Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the bank of the Han River south of the modern island's location was known as Nodeul or Nodol, meaning "the stepping stones where egrets play" in Korean. A ferry dock called Nodeulnaru, whose existence in the area was first recorded in the 15th century, gave rise to the modern name of Noryangjin, located on the southern side of the river.
Meanwhile, the northern riverbank by modern-day Yongsan District was little more than a sandbar, a natural resting point on the Han's wide waters. That peace ended in 1917, during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial occupation of Korea, when engineers dredged the sand and built stone embankments to create an artificial island called Nakanoshima, or "Middle Island" in Japanese, to support the Hangang Bridge connecting Yongsan and Noryangjin. After liberation in 1945, the island became known as Jungji Island based on the Korean reading of the Chinese characters that made up its colonial name.

The island was famously struck by tragedy in the early hours of June 28, 1950, when the bridge running through it was bombed by South Korean troops in an attempt to slow down invading North Korean forces, killing some 500 to 800 people fleeing the capital. The bridge was restored after the 1953 armistice and later widened to accommodate vehicles.
Through the 1950s and 60s, the island was a popular fishing and swimming spot in warmer weather and host to ice skating when the river froze over in winter. It began to take its modern form in the late 1960s, when a private company called ChinHung bought the island with plans to create a fee-paying park and expanded it from 33,060 square meters (8 acres) to 148,760.

Though ChinHung did not carry out these plans, it did build tennis courts, which became the main attraction of the island after the beach was closed for sanitary reasons. Ownership shifted in 1986 to the construction giant Kunyoung, whic...

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