Table of contents for N. 568 in Space

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Craft & Design Foundation (KCDF) has been carrying out the ‘Reinventing Space through Art’ project since March of last year. Its plans are to change the areas that have been left behind by the rapid economic growth of Korea, into spaces for culture and art. During this process, the space will be used as a place for regional artists and residents established by consultants regarding the planning and the director of the project. The areas constitute a total of twelve places, which include six industrial complexes, four abandoned industrial facilities, two buildings of administrative support and other areas. Up-Cycling Art Center A promotion centre will be remodeled on a waste resources facility in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggido, and a new educational…

The image of outer space is inside the frame of a White Cube, rather than the Seoul Science Museum. The exhibition ‘SPACE LIFE’ considers the process of humanity, adapting to the order of outer space. Its purpose is to keep a somewhat realistic, scientific sense of outer space, which is a difficult for the imagination. You can witness the journey made by mankind to prove the existence of outer space across 77 images provided by NASA, added together with 30 more images created by seven teams of modern artists. Attentive to its subtitle, ‘NASA Images’, it is an exhibition but without any separate categories or standards for selection. Of the images provided by NASA, the images that were thought to be the most visually interesting were selected. The works of…

‘Building is an act of overriding the existing order of the land. Destroying long existent shape of the land is an act of damaging the identity of a place, as well as erasing someone’s memories. Following such a line of thought, the best way to represent the simplicity of Park Soo Keun’s art within a familiar landscape would be to preserve the order of the land, having unfolded in harmony with its surroundings since long ago. Natural order has been respected since the initial planning of the Park Soo Keun Museum, with an attempt to revitalise the fringes of the existing mountain ridges. The artists’ village completed afterwards, floating over the paddy fields, again tries to adapt to the order of the existing borders of the fields. The same principle…

Who is architecture intended for and where does it begin? Architecture’s innate limitation is that it begins with capital and continues to be subjugated by capital, but it is the calling of architecture to look back on what capital has restricted architecture from achieving. This is the reasons why the practice of architects that represents the house building movement for the poor and less favourable areas is the social practice model for the architectural profession, which should be conducted by after putting aside architecture’s various values. For the democracy of space in Korea, Chung Guyon sold his work in many areas including Mooju, excluding formalism, and could create comfort within misfortunate areas with the dedication of a handful of architects including Joo Daekhan in the Cheolam Project since 2002. The…

The definition of the word ‘scrutable’ can be divided into two aspects. On the one hand it means to be understood through observation, as a readily comprehensible object, person or scene. On the other it means to be subject to that scrutiny, as something that requires our utmost attention in order to be deciphered. Greeted by Kyungsub Shin’s enigmatic large-scale photograph, Scrutable Landscape Series No. 001, upon entering the Cass Gallery at the London Metropolitan University, I am struck by the relevance of the word ‘scrutable’. The word remains with me as I weave my way between the collections of documents, photographs, models and designs that comprise this concise survey of the new generation of Korean architects. The photograph offers an urban landscape that can be read across its many…

The World Exposition Milano 2015 is being held on May 1 . This expo, unlike the 2012 Yeosoo Expo, is a registered expo that opens once every five years, and its duration is twice as long (184 days) as its forebear, which means it will be open until Oct. 31. The overall theme of the expo is ‘Feeding the planet, Energy for Life’. Korea will be participating under the theme of ‘Korean food, A Proposition for the Future: Food is Life’. The Korean pavilion is designed by Kim Seokchul (principal, ARCHIBAN) who is the chief commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Architectural Policy. On March of the last year, KOTRA selected the ARCHIBAN and SIGONGtech as the first to negotiate on the project and carried on the construction of the…

Next year is the 10th anniversary of death Nam Jun Paik’s passing. As such, many art galleries are busy gathering his works and opening exhibitions in his name this year. The most interesting out of the bunch is Nam Jun Paik Art Center’s ‘2015 Random Access’. The exhibition focuses on Paik’s experimental spirit, rather than his works, and has amassed ten teams of young artists with unique artistic styles that utilize modern methods. Like Paik’s work, that had no boundaries between different media, the works of the exhibition also spans across various media outputs such as setup, sound, and conversation. You can witness the homage to Paik in a newly edited fashion. The artists who participated in the exhibition are Kim Siwon+Yoon Jeewon+Lee Soosung, Kim Woongyong, Dappertutto Studio, Park Seungwon,…

On 13th February, Jang Minseung was announced as the winner of the 2014 Hermès Foundation Missulsang. Jang presented his piece voiceless, an artwork that deals with the Sewol Ferry incident. The critic Hong Sunhye explained that ‘Jang conveyed a message to the audience by expressing a tragic and heavy subject with such delicate and emotional language’. Jang’s speech was committed with a restrained language, expressing his memory and sympathy for the tragedy. He said, ‘I wish our society can be at a point where we can question things that need to be questioned’. A haiku is written on a delicate piece of paper, which dissolves in water in less than 10 seconds. The haiku goes, ‘The waves are icy cold, and the waterfowls cannot go to sleep, a burnt piece…

SPACE reported on the new pattern and phenomenon that has been created by the planning of mass scale housing complexes in Pangyo in the December issue of 2014. We revealed the unfamiliar scenery that has been portrayed in the desire of various individuals. We have also glimpsed the various experiments conducted in the housing complexes by meeting different architects and building owners. The case of Lee Jaeha (LEEJAEHA Architects) was one of the bold ones. Starting from 2011, he completed fifteen different projects in four years. He did not only work on many projects, but all of his projects each have different characteristics. Lee said, ‘I made different designs from my former projects, because the buildings owners in Pangyo wanted houses that are different and unique from others’. His experiments…

This house has a relatively large site of 574m2 for an urban housing site. The site receives much sunlight and has a forest at the rear. The seven pine trees at the corner of the site gave a good sense that the forest is coming into the site. The starting point was to find an arrangement to show the harmony between the pine trees and the house, placing a low entrance on the spot pivoted by the pine tree and spreading the plan to left and right. The left wing, which contains the living room, kitchen, and the master bedroom, became the main structure, and the right wing, containing the dressing room, became the annex structure. The central entrance hall is connected to green house at the back, continuing down…

Inherently, architecture is built through the capital not of the architect but of the client. As Rem Koolhaas predicted, the future of the architectural world rests in the binary that ‘products of the state will decrease and those of the private sector will increase’. The era of public architecture will end and the era of architecture controlled by enterprises, individuals, and capitalists will emerge. Nevertheless we cannot deny that architecture is a social product. Architecture is still related with politic and economic, and keep in step with context of society and culture. Therefore, it is right to discuss a social architecture. The late Chung Guyon said that ‘architects have to figure out what the society of their time requires and organise people’s lives by utilising their creative abilities and so…

Disaster Response Shelter in Tanauan, the Philippines Urban Intensity Architects + Ta Architects + Kyungsub Shin Design team: Urban Intensity Architects – Wee Jinbok, Son Jonghyeon, Kim Ranhee, Kim Dongyun / Ta Architects – Park Kwanjoo, Lee Gayoung Structural engineer: Dong Yang Structual Engineers Co., Ltd. Construction structure: SG ShinSung Construction Co., Ltd On the 8th of November 2013, the Philippines was hit by typhoon Haiyan. There were 7,350 casualties and 4 million people lost their homes. As Tanauan city, located in the eastern Leyte Island, was directly in the path of the typhoon, it suffered the greatest battering by the typhoon. Relief efforts from all around the world lent a helping hand to the Philippines, and Korea also participated in the disaster relief effort. During that time, Korean and…

Architect: NAMELESS Architecture (Unchung Na, Sorae Yoo) Design team: Jplus – Lim Jungtaek, Baek Hyunkuk / NAMELESS Architecture – Oh Hyunjin, Lee Jungho, Kim Wanggeon, Park Dongjin, Yoon Jaemin Location: Donong-dong, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Programme: Educational Facility Site area: 35,008m2 Building area: 999.36m2 Gross floor area: 2,628.68m2 Building scope: B1, 3F Height: 11.2m Building to land ratio: 20.62% Floor area ratio: 52.65% Structure: RC Exterior finishing: exposed concrete, steel louver, pair glass Interior finishing: exposed concrete, terrazzo, plasterboard Structural engineer: Mido Structural Consultants Mechanical and Electrical engineer: Suyang Construction: Dolim Construction Design period: May 2011 – Oct. 2013 Construction period:Nov. 2013 – Jan. 2015 Client: Donghwa High School Reviewer A The triangle shaped building is suitable for its function as a school because the teacher can see two sides to the angular point.…

300 drawings and sketchbooks, 300 examples of notes and diaries, 450 items of video data, 15,000 photos and films, 300 examples of printed ephemera such as invitations, 50 signs, 400 personal letters and faxes, 200 books. Combined with guest books, news articles, manuals, architecture, interior data, among others, this equals a total of 20,000 items, and 900 boxes. This is the largest collection held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) and it is of artist Park Hyun-Ki. Park Hyun-Ki, born in 1942, met his untimely death at the age of 58, but is the Korea’s greatest video artist after Nam June Paik. He gained worldwide recognition beginning with his first solo exhibition in 1968, at the XV Bienal Internacional de Sao Paulo (Water Performance) of…

Two exhibitions that opened together on Feb. 7 at the Art Sonje Center deals with the audience and the exhibition area, and in a broader sense, explains the relationship between individuals and a nation. It is a space for a shared conversation that artists from different cultural backgrounds have created through capturing inevitable or experienced social phenomena. Through the exhibitions, we can question ourselves about the process of awareness that goes on in various boundaries as an attempt to change the fixated frame of thought. The concept of ‘Heman Chong: Never, A Dull Moment’ begins with a novel where the Singaporean artist personifies an exhibition area experiencing a mid-life crisis. The feelings that an exhibition area might feel as it ages are expressed through everyday objects such as a washbowl,…

This house is built for a young couple and their three children on a 232.1m2 site. The first floor contains a living room, kitchen, and a master bedroom. The second floor has three rooms for the children, a family room, and a laundry room. The loft by the rooftop contains a small movie theatre. It was planned so that it meets the floor area ratio and also to have a parking lot that blocks the sunlight and rain/ snow. In order to avoid the typical piloti form, the mass has been crossed in a zigzag direction, and it naturally creates a parking space that avoids rain and snow. The idea for the overall form and interior spaces followed shortly after. Three concrete boxes will pile up in order, but a…

This is a house for a couple and the three sisters who would visit time to time. The design of this house came from a formative idea sketch that was drawn some time before. This is an example that shows that functions can be added to the form, so different from a typical designing process. The form itself also has a character of a sculpture or a monument, which can be considered experimental. However, it could be done with the good will of the client. The fact that the client studied photography when they were young, and their children is a curator who deals with art work must have helped making such decision. The demands of the clients were to be contained within the form, so the plan and sections…

JOO Daekhan is principal of ECTO Architects and also representative of Research Institute Culture City. He was a executive architect of a renovation projects in Cheoram village and a project of ‘village of Spring’ in Seocheon, Korea. He organizes annual House-building project with students to propose architectural alternative about society issue in every summer. His works included a Library in Munsan-eup, Seocheon and Hanok village in Gongju, Korea. The reason why social architecture sounds strange to us is that architecture has been so long out of touch with our society. Though many architectural theories have emerged and fallen into oblivion throughout the modern age. Sociality of Architecture As ‘(urban) space is a (social) product’1 , architecture is also a social product. Whether we acknowledge this, pay no attention, or stay…

Architect:joh sungwook architects (Joh Sungwook) Design team: Kim Chinkyung Location:555-1, Pangyo-dong, Bundang-gu, Sungnam-si, Korea Programme: duplex residence Site area: 263.9m2 Building area:128.46m2 Gross floor area: 222.54m2 Building scope: B1, 2F Height:9.98m Parking: 3 Buildingto land ratio:48.68% Floor area ratio: 84.33% Structure: R.C. Exterior finishing: outside insulation system, stucoflex Interior finishing:paint, timber, exposed concrete, shrinkage compensating mortar Structuralengineer:3D Engineering Mechanicalengineer:Jeongin Engineering Electrical engineer:Daekyung Enc. Construction:JARCHIV Design period:May – Oct. 2013 Construction period: Oct. 2013 – Jul. 2014 Client:You Minkwoun Reviewer A An important point for composing a duplex formation is determining ‘which part is to be shared in what manner’. At the same time, the clients must be considered by protecting their privacy in each family unit. This house doesn’t particularly introduce something special, but the fresh ideas found here and there in different…

Kwon Yongju stacks thrown out goods in precarious formulations and pours water over the top. The gushing water strikes these daily objects, disrupting the static scene, refreshing the atmosphere, and adding moisture to the air. This climax creates a brief, unfamiliar moment and the displaced work itself vanishes with the end of the exhibition. In the end, Kwon Yongju’s work lingers only as a vivid memory. His work will be on display at the ‘Young Korean Artists 2014’ exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) until the 29th March. Gim Jonggil asks about Kwon Yongju’s world of art with the following four key words: touch, life, background, and hallucination. Gim Jonggil (Gim): I want to lead this discussion with four key words. The first is ‘touch’.…