The centerpiece of the 667-acre plan and of the city itself is the government building.Despite the dozens of ministries and agencies and offices relocated to Sejong City, the plan—and the logic of the city itself—is built around one large building. It is the city’s superstructure, and it is more landscape than architecture.

Through a series of sloping walkways, wideopen expanses, ramps and corridors, the superstructure is an interconnected green space winding about two miles in length and rising six stories high in places. It’s like a long, wet noodle that slipped out of a bowl and onto a tabletop. It’s both smooth and crooked. The government offices are contained beneath it.