Shoes Tree, a 17-meter-tall art installation made of over 30,000 worn-out shoes, will be revealed outside Seoul Station on Saturday, marking the opening of the city’s first highway-turned-park, Seoullo 7017.



Modeled after New York’s iconic High Line, Seoul’s soon-to-open pedestrian-friendly park stretches for about a kilometer and links seven surrounding areas, including Seoul Station and Namdaemun Market, to 12 pedestrian walkways.





(Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)



Shoes Tree, a major art piece installed at the center of Seoullo 7017, was designed and installed by environmental artist Hwang Ji-hae. Flower seeds have been planted inside each shoe.



“We invited Hwang to install Shoes Tree to give a meaning of urban restoration to visitors of Seoullo 7017,” said Choi Kwang-bin, the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s city gardening department.



“Both Shoes Tree and Seoullo 7017 are given new life with new meaning, reborn as a creative upcycling art and a unique park, respectively.”



The reason Hwang used shoes to create a tree was to remember the historical significance of the Yeomcheon-gyo handmade shoes street, located behind Seoullo 7017, the artist was quoted as saying.





Workers hang worn-out shoes on Shoes Tree on Seoullo 7017, Seoul’s soon-to-open pedestrian-friendly park, near Seoul Station on Tuesday. (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)



The city restoration project of Seoullo 7017 began four years ago to make use of an old overpass that once served as a major road connecting western and central Seoul. Public calls for its removal had mounted after a safety assessment classified the outdated overpass as dangerous in 2006.



The “70” in the name Seoullo 7017 refers to 1970, when the Seoul Station flyover was constructed, while 17 is a reference to the number of walkways connected to it and 2017, when its construction was completed.





Workers hang worn-out shoes on Shoes Tree on Seoullo 7017, Seoul’s soon-to-open pedestrian-friendly park, near Seoul Station on Tuesday. (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)