‘Handok/Genexine new building garden’ in Magok district, Gangseo-gu, Seoul
There is a garden that surprised me when I visited it this fall, and I would like to introduce it to my readers before the season ends. This is the garden of Handok and Genexine in the Magok district, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. The official name is ‘Handok Future Complex & Genexine Progen Bio Innovation Park’.
Although it is a corporate garden, anyone can enter this garden. A journey through the mystical forest begins as the yellow-leafed ginger trees and sweet-smelling cassia trees awaken the sense of the season. yes. So, this is a forest garden that has brought the forest to the city. Moss, ferns, and downy wrinkled leaves cover the floor, and wild chives, mugworts, pine trees, and linden trees fill the space at their own height, creating a wonderful harmony. There are water droplets everywhere, so birds can fly in and quench their thirst. I also imagine a garden in spring where pale pink azaleas will bloom. It has a delicate, elegant and feminine feel.
![An urban forest garden where both scientists and local residents can cool off.[김선미의 시크릿가든]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/11/03/130349085.1.jpg "An urban forest garden where both scientists and local residents can cool off.[김선미의 시크릿가든]")
It’s hard to believe that the parking lot is right underneath this garden, which has dirt hills here and there like a real forest. There are also ‘very special chairs’ placed here and there in this garden. Ceramic artist Lee Heon-jeong’s ceramic chair evokes an aesthetic sense while allowing anyone to
The experience of enjoying a work of art as an everyday item in a garden resembling a forest is refreshing. I was happy to see a chair in an unexpected place, so I contacted the ceramic artist, and he said, “I worked on a sculpture with an organic form that wasn’t too rigid because I thought it would be suitable for that location.”
This garden was created by Handok and Genexine while developing a new headquarters and research center in the Magok district in 2022. This office building, which created a garden for researchers to immerse themselves in new drug development in an optimal environment, also received the Korea Ecological Environment Architecture Award at the end of last year. It is said that this courtyard is where Handok Chairman Kim Young-jin put the most effort. They said they wanted to help not only researchers but also local office workers and residents relax by creating a small forest in the city center.
A beautiful book called ‘Mathematicians’ that I read a while ago came to mind. There is something I envied in this book, which is an essay written by 54 world-renowned mathematicians. At places like the French Institute for Advanced Study and the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study in the United States, there are forest gardens where mathematicians can walk around and cool their heads whenever they are doing their research. I once met French mathematician Cédric Villani, who received the Fields Medal, known as the Nobel Prize for mathematics, in 2010, and he also said this. “I find leisure in my daily life by feeding the hens or watering the plants in the garden.” (https://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20170724/85490105/1)
I walked through the garden with Kwon Chun-hee (60), CEO of ‘Deutgwasup’, who created the Handok & Genexine Garden. He says he has created gardens of stylish cultural and commercial spaces such as Busan F1963, Momos Coffee Marine City Branch, Seoul Kukje Gallery, and Gyeonggi Yangpyeong Old House.
“I’ve seen a lot of gardens while traveling around. But the most beautiful gardens are real forests. The landscaping work I am doing now is recreating the scenes I saw in the mountains. The best way to study forest gardens is to go to the mountains and observe the forests closely. In the mountains, there is a border point where one passes from man-made nature to real nature. The plants on the border are complicated and messy, but when you enter real nature, you start to see the rules of nature. There are many sorrel trees in humid areas around the valley, and many spirea trees in sunny areas. “By applying this, we create forest gardens in the city.”
Representative Kwon, who grew up as the daughter of an orchardist in Uiseong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, is said to have experienced all kinds of senses while playing in the mountains as a child. I can still vividly see the sight of the hepatica blooming in a moist place in the mountains. He studied biology at Sungkyunkwan University and horticulture at Korea University’s graduate school. He talks about the 1980s paperback ’Yanghwasorok’ that he bought at a used bookstore in Cheonggyecheon, Seoul.
“If you look at Kang Hui-an’s Yanghwasorok, each plant has different habits. How much more so for a person who is the lord of all things. “I learned that we need to acknowledge differences when dealing with people and raising children.”
He then talks about forest gardens as a global trend.
“When I went to Expo Milan, Italy a few years ago, the theme of the exhibition was agriculture and food. The entire exhibition hall was filled with food, and fruit trees were planted in the garden. Among them, the Austrian exhibition hall was particularly impressive. A ‘ㅁ’ shaped corridor was installed and a courtyard was created in the middle, and it was like a small forest in Austria. “I remember how many people from all over the world were moved by the forest garden that had been moved to the exhibition hall in a valley similar to the forest in the central region of our country.”
These days, customers who request home gardens are said to be showing increasing interest in forest gardens. If you just remove the grass from the yard and plant trees so that they can be seen through the window, the yard will immediately transform into a small forest. If you plant pine trees, oak trees, and ash trees instead of the pine trees and juniper trees that were always planted in the yard, and create a small vegetable garden, the garden will become ‘a space where everyone can be together in the forest.’
I used to think that the Magok district was full of matchbox buildings, but this time, after seeing Handok and Genexine’s forest garden, even my entire impression of the Magok district changed. Genexine Manager Kim Sang-jin, whom I met in this garden, said, “Researchers stop by every now and then to take a quiet walk.” I hope that more companies and research institutes in our country will take interest in the resting and healing power of gardens.
Reporter Kim Seon-mi kimsunmi@donga.com
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The article explores the concept of forest gardens, drawing inspiration from natural ecosystems observed in mountainous regions. The author highlights the differences between man-made landscapes and authentic nature, noting how understanding these differences can apply to both gardening and interpersonal relationships.
The narrative begins with a description of the transition from cultivated land to wild forests, emphasizing the diverse plant life that thrives in natural settings, such as sorrel and spirea trees. The insights of Representative Kwon, who has a deep connection to nature from childhood, are shared. His background in biology and horticulture shapes his perspectives on the importance of recognizing individual differences in plants—and by extension, in people.
A notable anecdote recounts Kwon’s experience at the Milan Expo, where forest gardens were featured prominently, showcasing how globally this trend is gaining traction. The article also discusses the increasing interest in creating forest gardens within urban settings, suggesting that transforming conventional gardens by incorporating diverse tree species can enhance communal spaces.
Personal reflections shift the focus to the Magok district, where the presence of a forest garden at the Handok and Genexine headquarters has shifted the author’s initial impressions of the area. The article concludes with a call to action for companies and research institutions to embrace the restorative and healing qualities that gardens can offer.
the article weaves together personal narrative, ecological insights, and calls for a shift towards sustainable urban gardening practices, depicting forest gardens not just as aesthetic enhancements, but as vital components of community health and well-being.