ABSTRACT
South Korea’s military rulers saw the award of the 1988 Summer Games to Seoul as the opportunity to emulate Tokyo 1964 and similarly enter into the family of First World nations. Generous funds were made available to give the city a major cosmetic overhaul. Unfortunately, continued political protests and riots led to brutal repression, and for a while it looked as though Seoul might actually lose the Games. Only when the junta promised sweeping political reforms did the Games go ahead.
Seoul had begun construction of a major new sports centre in 1976, which included a 100,000-seat main stadium. Apparently inspired by a Korean Joseon Dynasty porcelain vase, local architect Kim Swoo-geun devised a complex in situ concrete stadium featuring 80 curved external ribs and cantilevered steel roof beams. Most of the seats are distributed along the sides rather than the ends, the preferred configuration for spectators.
Since the Games the stadium hosted the national football team until 2000, then was primarily a concert venue until 2015, when it became the home of the newly formed professional football club Seoul E-Land FC.
