World’s Largest Spokeless Ferris Wheel To Rise Up In South Korean Skyline

The lord of the rings is moving to South Korea. Well, a different lord of the rings, that is. The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has unraveled plans to build a giant, ring-shaped observatory on a former waste site.

When completed, the stunning Seoul Ring, with a diameter of 591 feet, will stand as the largest spokeless Ferris wheel in the world. The structure will enliven the skyline of Haneul (meaning sky or heaven) Park, which was once a trash disposal site but has now been overhauled into an ecological park.

In line with the area’s sustainable goals, the wheel will run on green energy, including solar power. It will house 36 glass carriages, with a capacity of 25 occupants per car, and will be able to accommodate as many as 1,200 visitors per day.

The Seoul Ring won’t just be a deck to provide sweeping views of the surrounding land, but its presence will also hold symbolic meaning. Its proximity to the northern border represents the government’s wish for “a unified Korea,” CNN reports.

The attraction’s planners also envision augmented-reality technology to be projected on the walls of the cubicles to display useful information for tourists.

Seoul Ring is set to top the current largest spokeless Ferris wheel, which is located in China’s Shandong and touts a height of 475.7 feet. South Korea’s version will also be second only to the world’s highest Ferris wheel—spoked or otherwise—to the 820-foot-tall Ain Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The government is investing 400 billion won (US$411 million) into the project, which will commence construction in 2025 and is slated to see completion in 2027.

With the new Ferris wheel, Seoul intends to draw more visitors into the city as well as the site, previously the home of the World Cup Stadium. Hopefully, the Ring will help it come full circle.

[via Firstpost and Travel Tomorrow, images via Seoul Government]