Green Concrete counts Gaepo-dong's 22 lost trees before towers rise

The 22 Lost Trees and a 7-Year Record

'Concrete Green Island' (produced by Studio Siot), a documentary capturing the transformation of green spaces behind the reconstruction of Gangnam's Gaepo-dong, will meet audiences this August. With a runtime of 103 minutes, the film documents 7 years of Gaepo-dong, centering on the 22 trees that vanished due to redevelopment.

Director Lee Sung Min, who grew up in the Gaepo Jugong Apartment complex, spent seven years collecting photographic data and conducting resident interviews through the 'Gaepo-dong That Place' project. The film highlights the trees that grew alongside residents within the Gaepo Jugong Apartment complex and the forests they formed. In particular, it records the community's history through a scene where residents name the 22 trees that remained until the very end. While some trees were transplanted during the reconstruction process, large trees such as Metasequoia, Ginkgo, and Zelkova that had held their ground for decades were felled.

The Landscape of Gaepo-dong Transformed into a High-Rise Residential Belt

Developed as a large-scale apartment complex in the early 1980s, Gaepo-dong was considered a pleasant residential area nestled between Daemosan Mountain and Yangjaecheon Stream. Since then, as aging complexes underwent urban renewal projects, large-scale brand complexes such as THE H Honor Hills, Raemian Blestage, Gaepo Xi Presidence, and THE H Firstier IPARK were built, reorganizing the area into a high-rise residential belt representing Gangnam.

In this process, the urban forests that served as a green axis connecting Daemosan Mountain and Yangjaecheon Stream were replaced by concrete. The forests formed by thousands of Metasequoia, Ginkgo, and Zelkova trees had provided cooling effects against rising temperatures and habitats for wildlife, but they disappeared along with the reconstruction.

A Documentary Capturing the Relationship Between Plants and Humans

This work shares a similar tone with director Jung Jae-eun's 2022 documentary 'Cats' Apartment' (distributed/invested by At Nine). While 'Cats' Apartment' dealt with animals at redevelopment sites, 'Concrete Green Island' focuses on the relationship between humans and the plants that once filled the space.

'Concrete Green Island' is distributed and invested by Jinjin and will be available in theaters this August, as well as via VOD on the OTT platform Wavve.