The SNU Graduate School of Environmental Studies (GSES) has helped change the campus scenery by redesigning its bland building rooftop into a beautiful garden.

The Graduate School of Environmental Studies, with the aid of Seoul City’s rooftop reinvention campaign, opened Haneul Madang on the rooftop of Building No. 82. Haneul Madang, which means ‘sky garden’ in Korean, is a combination of a flower garden and a vegetable garden approximately 746m2 in size. Thus GSES has succeeded in distinguishing its building rooftop from the cement rooftops of other SNU buildings which have no particular character.

(Picture right: An aerial photograph of Gwanak campus. The majority of the campus’ rooftops are just unused space.)

To celebrate the opening of this new garden, the Graduate School of Environmental Studies held an academic conference entitled “Cities, Rooftops and Rediscovering Gardens” on May 19.

Professor SUNG Jong-sang read his paper “A Blue Dream on the Roof: Poetics in the Rooftop Garden” and argued that in the process of growing gardens on rooftops, people should focus simultaneously on visible and invisible, tangible and intangible substances. Also, rooftops should cease to remain a lifeless spot and should be transformed into places where ordinary people can actively participate in making an effort to save our planet.

There are currently 140 different seeds and trees growing in Haneul Madang. Faculty members and students of GSES were each given some personal space in the garden where they may plant flowers, vegetables or trees as they wish.

(A Garden of Light: A student picture which won the GSES's photo contest.)


Professor YOO Byung Rim, who overlooked the entire project, expressed his hopes that the newly grown garden will create a nice, green view for SNU in cooperation with the surrounding Gwanak Mountain.

GSES also held a photo contest and offered scholarships to students who took unique and creative pictures of the new garden and its vicinity.

Written by LEE Hee Un, SNU English Editor, gurume0221@snu.ac.kr   ?
Proofread by Brett Johnson, SNU English Editor