The importance of relationships was highlighted at a farewell reception for the “John Portman: Art and Architecture” exhibition organized by the Korean-Southeast U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the High Museum of Art.

Betty Siegel, president emeritus of Kennesaw State University, was the keynote speaker at the event held April 15 in recognition of the Atlanta architect’s role at the center of one of Korea’s most important development projects.

Earlier that day, Kennesaw State concluded its “Year of Korea” program, which had focused for a full academic year on the country with a wide variety of lectures and events.

Mr. Portman and his son, John C. (Jack) Portman III, who serves as CEO of the architectural firm John Portman & Associates and vice chairman of Portman Holdings LLC, the real estate firm, attended the event, which drew members from four local Korean-American organizations and other guests.

Calling Mr. Portman Jr. “Atlanta’s most influential architect,” Dr. Siegel praised his ability to develop relationships around the world and encouraged the more than 70 attendees to follow his example by remaining “psychologically young” and open to new opportunities.

“And it’s all about relationships, isn’t it,” she added, “always about relationships?”

Acie Holt, vice president of development at Portman Holdings, agreed with Dr. Siegel in his remarks following her address. “In my experience working with Portman and on our project near Seoul, you are absolutely right,” he said. “It’s the backbone of how we get from one day to the next, one stage to the next.”

He referred specifically to Incheon’s mayor, Sang-Soo Ahn, as being an especially important supporter of the Songdo Landmark City project that the Portman company is working on. Songdo Landmark City is to be the symbolic gateway to South Korea since people arriving at Incheon International Airport will take the seven mile bridge from the island on which the airport is located through Songdo on their way to Seoul, the country's capital.

While the six-month exhibition featured paintings, sculpture and furniture as well as the architecture, all designed by Mr. Portman, and attracted some 200,000 visitors, the farewell reception focused primarily on his involvement in the development of Songdo Landmark City and surrounding international business district.

The district, also known as “Songdo,” is an entirely new city being built from the ground up on recently reclaimed land from the Yellow Sea.

An architectural model of Incheon Tower, a 151-story twin-tower, which is to be symbolic of Korea’s future and is to be a focal point of the development, was located at the end of the High’s retrospective as an example of Mr. Portman’s most recent work.

The Portman firm is partnered with the construction arms of Samsung Group and Hyundai in its development. As a point of comparison, the edifice is to be three times higher than the Westin Peachtree Plaza, which is located in downtown Atlanta and is another Portman creation.

Ellis Katz, executive vice president at John Portman & Associates, told GlobalAtlanta during the reception that the towers are to be symbolic of Korea as the Eiffel Tower is for France or the Taj Mahal is for India.

Composed of a split tower design connected by three skybridges, the structure evokes a future of closer relations between North and South Korea.

Besides being Songdo’s crowning jewel, it makes a dramatic statement about South Korea’s development from a war devastated land in 1953 to today's economy, which, according to the U.S. State Department, now ranks as the U.S.’s 7th largest trading partner and the 13th largest economy in the world.

“The towers are a state-of-the art structure in the middle of a development that will become a role model for other cities in the future,” said Yonni Kim, an attorney with the law firm of Arnall Golden and Gregory LLP and a vice present at the chamber who served as master of ceremonies at the High event.

“Cities throughout the world are expanding. They need to have models that make the most of sustainable development practices and rely on the latest technologies,” she told GlobalAtlanta.

Cisco Systems Inc. is taking a lead in developing the information technology backbone for the city as it proselytizes the benefits of new technologies in creating a “green city” designed to emit less greenhouse gases.

As the second largest and densest metro area in the world with a population of more than 25 million, the Seoul National Capital Area, including Seoul’s metropolitan district and Incheon, the country’s third largest city, serves as a prime example of the social pressures to be faced elsewhere in Asia in coming years.

Cisco considers Songdo a prototype for an “instant city” concept that is to be applied in China and India, which in the coming decade will need more cities to accommodate their growing populations.

“Korea also has been a leader in developing new technologies,” Ms. Kim said. “It’s had smart phones, electronic networks and broadband for a decade.”

For these reasons, Cisco has committed itself to providing the digital infrastructure enabling it to create an Internet-enabled utility that will be able to control water, power, traffic and telephone service electronically.

Cisco also will monitor energy use in Songdo’s new buildings and control their lights, heating and electricity.

Upon completion in 2015, the tower is to be the centerpiece of Portman's 1,500-acre, master-planned, mixed-use Songo Landmark City project, which is to be occupied by 68,000 residents.

The promotional materials for the surrounding industrial business district say that it will have parts resembling New York’s Central Park and “pocket parks” reminiscent of Savannah. In addition, it is to have a canal system inspired by that of Venice and a convention center similar to the Sydney Opera House.

Besides the Korean-American Southeast U.S. Chamber, other Korean-American organizations represented at the event included the Korean Association of Greater Atlanta, the Korean-American Chamber of Commerce and the Korea America Friendship Society of Atlanta.

Representatives of the Korean War 60th Tribute also attended the reception. The Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea is to travel the U.S. as part of a 16-nation global tour commemorating the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The ballet troupe is to perform at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Tuesday evening, June 29.