Home to 250 publishing companies and their 10,000+ workers, Paju Book City(http://www.pajubookcity.org/) was created by publishing community. Located about 1.5 hours away from Seoul, the city can handle full process of publishing from planning, printing, to distribution, and hold book fairs, conferences, exhibitions, performances, etc.

Built on a wetland and comprised of mostly lows-rise buildings, the city feels peaceful and environmentally conscious. Main goal of Paju Book CIty was to create a humane environment, a city that generates communal good, in which the book reading culture would become immersed in people’s lives. Perhaps it was possible thanks to a couple of contracts signed between the client(publishing companies) and the architects to make this city happen: the Great Contract and the Good Contract (in korean : http://ibookcity.org/2012/sub2/sub2_3.html). These contracts were for 1st stage and 2nd stage of the city development respectively. They state that the client and the architect must have mutual respect towards each other, and endeavor to design buildings for public good and not just for one’s own benefits.

Architects carefully chosen by Seung H. Sang of Irojae to design each field blocks include Hyun Sik Min, Jun Seong Kim, Sung Yong Joh, Jong Ho Lee, Minsuk Cho, Moongyu Choi, Kwangsoo Kim, Florian Beigel, and many more. The intentions for this city is so admirable; it is a pity that such a city can only happen 30km away from Seoul, and not emerge from within.

Area : 1,586,400sqm