Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 221

The Han River, the city’s shimmering artery, flowed powerfully beside them as Joo-yeol sat in the back of the car. He listened to the crackling phone line, his face growing darker with each word.

[Well, um… Assemblyman Seo Dong-jun says he can’t help. He’s a junior from school, but… you just can’t reason with him.]

Joo-yeol slammed his fist lightly on the plush leather seat. “How did someone so stubborn even become Mayor of Seoul?”

[…I’m sorry.] The voice on the phone was small.

“Sorry? Why are *you* sorry?” Joo-yeol snapped.

[I should have created an opportunity somehow…]

“Forget it. What’s the point of meeting with a stubborn bloke like that?”

[Then, should I cancel the appointment for now?]

“Forget Seoul. Try to arrange something with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport again.”

[Yes, Chairman.]

Click-

“Damn it. Some oddball became the Mayor of Seoul.”

As Joo-yeol hung up the phone irritably, Jun-ho, who was driving, asked cautiously.

“Is something wrong, Senior?”

Joo-yeol frowned slightly and spoke again.

“You know Dong-jun, right?”

“Ah, Assemblyman Seo Dong-jun?”

“Yeah. He’s my friend from school.”

“I know him.”

Seo Dong-jun was a three-term assemblyman from Seoul, a graduate of S University, and Joo-yeol’s friend from his school days.

“The current Mayor of Seoul is his direct junior.”

“Ah…!”

“I was going to have a chat about this project, so I contacted him through Dong-jun, but…”

Joo-yeol trailed off, and Jun-ho, who roughly understood the situation, nodded.

“It didn’t go well, I presume.”

“Just wanted to see his face, but he’s all about principles. What a load of rubbish.”

Jun-ho, listening to Joo-yeol’s story, felt deeply disappointed inside.

‘If we had the Mayor of Seoul on our side, we could have taken it easy….’

He didn’t show it outwardly, but if he could have made Seoul City his ally, he could have created a situation where he could win without any effort.

If that were the case, ‘s victory in the competition would have been a foregone conclusion.

Then, he wouldn’t have had to put in much effort in the concept design stage.

Winning was now almost certain. He wouldn’t need to work as hard. Jun-ho felt a rush of disappointment mixed with relief.

But Jun-ho pretended to be okay and spoke up.

“Don’t worry, Senior.”

“What worry?”

Jun-ho grinned and continued.

“I’ll overwhelm them with skill. You’ve set the stage so well, Senior; I have to take advantage of it.”

As a result, the meeting with the Mayor of Seoul fell through, but Jun-ho was quite surprised by Joo-yeol’s power.

After all, it meant that he could exert influence even on the Mayor of Seoul, who had been in office for only a short time, through his connections.

So, Jun-ho decided he needed to strongly support Joo-yeol.

To do so, it was necessary not only to say flattering things but also to show his skills at times like these.

Jun-ho knew very well that Joo-yeol didn’t like people who were all talk and no substance.

And Jun-ho’s attitude was exactly what Joo-yeol liked.

“Heh heh. Yes. I trust your skills, Junior.”

Jun-ho confidently said again.

“It’s enough that you secretly blocked the overseas design firms in advance.”

“Well, I’ve already spread the word, so other members of the association won’t be able to participate either.”

“……!”

“With this much set up, you should be able to take advantage of it with your skills, Jun-ho.”

The moment Joo-yeol finished speaking, Jun-ho instinctively clamped his mouth shut, preventing a cheer from escaping.

Then, his hands on the steering wheel tightened even more.

If even other architectural firms affiliated with the association were quietly prevented from participating, he wouldn’t even need help from Seoul City.

Most of the design firms capable of handling such significant projects were affiliated with the association.

Even if they weren’t, they were mostly pushovers.

‘Yes!’

Jun-ho already felt like he had won the design competition worth over ten billion won.

Still May.

Even though the full heat of summer hadn’t arrived yet, the atmosphere in the WJ Studio conference room felt thick, even before summer truly arrived. The hum of voices, the rustle of papers, and the focused intensity in everyone’s eyes created a palpable heat.

In a meeting where all the design personnel of the studio participated, a heated discussion had been going on for three hours already.

The topic of the discussion was, of course, the integrated design competition for the Seongsu Strategic Redevelopment Zone.

For the past two or three months, the biggest interest of the WJ Studio design team had been this project.

Woo-jin was in charge of the basic direction, but now the detailed ideas and specific designs were no longer being done by Woo-jin.

Woo-jin, who had to go out and about busily, didn’t even have the time for that, and there was no need for it either.

Woo-jin, who had a high understanding of the project, would suggest a few directions, and based on that, the designers of the design team would put their heads together and present specific design plans; that was the current design process of WJ Studio.

In the meantime, the capabilities of the WJ Studio design team had improved remarkably.

The skills of the existing members had improved, but they had also recruited talented people from outside.

Therefore, Woo-jin’s role now was to point out the accurate design direction and design philosophy to them.

Today was no different.

The design team had been working day and night for the past week, and Woo-jin’s feedback was continuing on the results they had laid out.

“As I emphasized several times during the last meeting, this project is not simply a project to design residential spaces.”

When Woo-jin spoke, everyone focused and fixed their eyes on the screen.

“The client for this project is not only the members of the Seongsu Strategic Redevelopment Zone association but also all the citizens who will use the Han River Park.”

Woo-jin, pointing to the floor plan on the large screen in the conference room with a laser pointer, looked around at the audience again and continued.

“The key to this project is to create a space that protects the privacy of the residents while harmonizing with the Han River Park as much as possible.”

Woo-jin pinpointed the core of the design’s shortcomings in a clear and concise manner.

“Design beautiful greenery and public facilities in the vast area secured by undergrounding Gangbyeonbuk-ro…”

He presented a clear direction.

“We must design it in such a way that residents with high accessibility to these facilities feel the premium benefits, while also making the Seongsu Han River Park attractive to Seoul citizens living elsewhere.”

Woo-jin wasn’t just talking about ideal directions.

Rather than blindly instructing ‘do it this way’ just because he was the CEO, he always presented accurate evidence and various references for the direction he suggested.

That’s why the designers at WJ Studio liked Woo-jin’s approach so much.

“This is an example of New York’s Central Park.”

“That seems to be Hyde Park in London…”

“Luxembourg Gardens would definitely be worth referencing. Regent’s Park in England is also wonderful… But it’s hard to find a park anywhere in the world with the exact same location conditions as the Han River.”

“That’s because there aren’t many cities with a population of over ten million that have a beautiful and large river like the Han River anywhere else in the world.”

“That’s the charm of the Han River Park.”

“I think we were too focused on premium residential spaces.”

“I’ll submit a revised plan as you suggested, CEO.”

As Woo-jin presented various agendas, the meeting proceeded busily once again.

The power of collective intelligence was amazing, and several ideas that Woo-jin hadn’t even thought of when he was alone came out.

“It might be okay to share some of the community facilities with the Han River side.”

“Isn’t that too risky of an idea, Team Leader?”

“Are you worried about privacy, CEO?”

“Of course.”

“The basic community facilities must be separated, of course. The residents will strongly object too.”

“Then…?”

“But if we take about half of the water park facilities that we proposed earlier and move them to the Han River Park side, and charge outsiders a relatively lower fee than private facilities to add to the maintenance costs…”

“Oh! That’s a good idea!”

“I think there’s definitely a win-win situation that can be created for both residents and outsiders.”

“That’s definitely a possible method. The water park maintenance costs will be significant, so it’s definitely a good idea.”

The meeting lasted for several hours, but everyone participated enthusiastically without losing focus.

The meeting atmosphere was great, but also…

Everyone was encouraged by the fact that they were designing such a large space in the heart of Seoul with their own hands.

“The design quality, starting with the floor plan composition by type, is excellent.”

“Thank you, CEO.”

“However, let’s think more about the exterior specialization together.”

“Yes, I was wondering whether the commonly used curtain wall look was a bit bland.”

“I think it would be good to apply some of the parametric designs I’ve been working on recently.”

“It’s a residential space… Are you thinking of too geometrical forms?”

“Ah, that’s not the case. The overall building form will remain the same… Just like how we use curtain wall look designs to create a curtain wall feeling, I was thinking of covering the building with a special pattern that incorporates parametric design as a skin.”

“Oh…! That would be wonderful.”

So, the design change meeting, which was originally scheduled to end around 4 o’clock, was finally able to wrap up close to 6 o’clock, which was quitting time.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

However, everyone maintained an enthusiastic expression despite the extended meeting.

In particular, Woo-jin, who led the meeting, had a very pleased look on his face.

‘Everyone’s become experts now. The intermediate design results are more satisfactory than I thought.’

While walking to the CEO’s office, Woo-jin ran into the head of the business department and stopped him to ask.

“Team Leader Yoo. How many days do we have left until the contest deadline?”

“We have about three weeks left.”

“That’s plenty of time.”

“Haha, we started in advance before the announcement came out.”

“Are there any problems on the business side?”

“Don’t worry, CEO. We still have plenty of reserve funds left.”

“We’ve invested so much manpower in preparing for this contest… I’m worried because sales will inevitably fall.”

At Woo-jin’s words, Team Leader Yoo smiled pleasantly and replied.

“You’re going to win this project anyway, aren’t you? Hehe.”

Woo-jin also smiled and replied.

“Well, I’ll make sure it happens that way…”

Woo-jin was confident, of course, but he trailed off a bit.

After all, winning this project was not yet a certain matter.

Even if Woo-jin was the first person to propose the project, if there was a company that proposed a better design, the job would go to them.

‘I have to make sure that doesn’t happen.’

Since the scale is unprecedentedly large among public designs, many of the world’s leading design firms will participate.

Woo-jin was already looking forward to what proposals the overseas studios would make and what kind of competition he would have to face with them.

‘If major studios come in, the competition will be fierce… But in the end, we’ll be the winners. Because there’s no one who knows the situation of the business better than I do.’

But at this moment when Woo-jin was thinking this.

Team Leader Yoo of the business department, who was about to return to his seat, suddenly turned around and spoke to Woo-jin again.

“Ah, right. CEO.”

“Yes?”

“I just got some fresh news…”

At Team Leader Yoo’s words, Woo-jin tilted his head and asked back.

“Fresh… news?”

“Yes.”

“Is it good news?”

“Of course.”

And the next moment.

“What kind of news is it?”

“The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has sent down an official document.”

“An official document?”

At Team Leader Yoo’s unexpected story, Woo-jin’s eyes widened.

“This Seongsu project… The participation of overseas design firms is restricted.”