Table of contents for N. 581 in Space

The ‘Making Spaces with Culture’ project 2015, hosted by Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and supervised by Korea Craft & Design Foundation (KCDF), has now reached completion. 14 projects were conceived within the areas of spatial forming, culture design, and consulting. Unlike last year, elementary/middle school and spaces for North Korean defectors have been included. In the case of Oryu middle school, many students and alumni participated in the project. The main project was to create an historic archival space at the entrance of the information hall, which would represent 40 years of history. The new photos and videos installed in the completed space stand out more than the historical diagrams and yearbooks. The designated consultant Kim Insook (artist) said in an interview that the members searched for families…

On Feb. 24, The Serpentine Gallery revealed its expanded Architecture Programme, which is to include The Serpentine’s Pavilion Commission, conceived in 2000, as well as 25m2 Summer Houses. The 16th annual pavilion is designed by Bjarke Ingles Group (BIG) based in New York and Copenhagen and the four newly commissioned Summer Houses are designed by Kunlé Adeyemi, based in Amsterdam and Lagos, Barkow Leibinger, who works in Berlin and New York, Yona Friedman from Paris, and Asif Khan from London. Unzipped wall designed by BIG is the transformation of a straight line into a three-dimensional space, presenting a dynamic structure. The structure embodies multiple aspects from various approaches that are often perceived as opposites: a structure that is freeform yet rigorous, while both transparent and opaque. Instead of using clay…

‘Global Art Market Project’ organized by the Arts Council Korea presented a special lecture by foreign figures as its last program in Artist’s House in Daehak-ro on Feb. 26. Tim Etchells, co-founder of art fairs like Art HK and Simon Fisher, co-founder of the online art platform Ocular visited Korea for the project which seeks to find a breakthrough for the stagnant art market and to exchange information. Frist, Tim Etchells introduced his knowhow through organizing and managing many art fairs during last decade. He said he has carefully examined requirements of the hosting city when he organized Art HK in 2008. He found that Hong Kong was the best place for international art fair; English is the official language; it imposes 0% of import and export duties; it can…

Architect: AND (Jeong Euiyeob, Lee Taekyoung) Design team: Kim Yeonji, Cha Hyemin Location: 18-4, Angaecho-gil, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Programme: mixed-use (1F commercial, 2~3F residential) Site area: 202.9m2 Building area: 95m2 Gross floor area: 188.08m2 (1F 90.34m2 , 2F 44.65m2 , 3F 53.09m2 ) Building scope: 3F Height: 11.95m Parking: 2 Building to land ratio: 46.82% Floor area ratio: 92.7% Structure: reinforced concrete Exterior finishing: wall – external insulation system / roof – zinc Interior finishing: exposed concrete, red oak plywood Structural engineer: THEKUJO Engineering Inc. Construction: owner builder, AND(CM) Mechanical and electrical engineering: JUNG YEON Engineering Inc. Design period: June 2013 – Apr. 2014 Construction period: Aug. 2014 – Jan. 2016 Client: Son Inok, Kim Sungsoo Jeong Euiyeob is a principal of AND (Architecture of Novel Differentiation), and he focuses…

Ken Min Sungjin has a unique reputation within the Korean architectural world, which adds meaning to his consistent approach in project execution methods and the evaluation of his work. He is an ‘architect’ who is faithful towards the intrinsic function of and reasons behind the existence of architects more than anybody else. The reason why we have had little exposure to or information about Ken Min Sungjin is because he is an architect who has continuously explored architectural design rather than expending efforts promoting himself to the world. Ken Min Sungjin is an architect who proves himself through his architecture, not through various activities or explanatory rhetoric. The four new projects he has recently unveiled, for the first time in five years, offer an opportunity to assess the change, inner…

M-PARK CITY M1 Proposal for M-PARK CITY Architect: SKM Architects (Ken Min Sungjin) Location: 150-19, Gajwa-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, Korea Programme: neighbourhood living facility Site area: 38,622.7m2 Building area: 13,357.48m2 Gross floor area: 94,938.83m2 Building scope: B1, 9F CESCO Proposal for CESCO Office Building Architect: SKM Architects (Ken Min Sungjin) Location: 502-2, Sangil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, Korea Programme: reserch education institute Site area: 1,585.9m2 Building area: 922.36m2 Gross floor area: 11,695.11m2 Building scope: B6, 10F Heights and Depths Karl Schlögel, a German historian is wary of interpreting space as ‘a bowl to put something in’. He argues that space should be understood as a social process governed by various practices. If the meaning of space is to be taken simply as the image of a bowl, it would be confined to the…

PUBLIC SPACE IN THE NEOLIBERAL CITY Gentrification may be one of the most controversial subjects in the discussion on urban space in the neoliberal age. Originally in architecture, gentrification refers to the demolition of not decrepit existing architecture in order to rebuild a new one for new purposes. The gentrification of today, however, is more closely related to the urban regeneration implemented by municipal policies to create a better living environment. Consequently, it raises the real estate value, contributing to expanding the wealth of the buildings and land-owners, while further marginalizing the low-income tenants who cannot afford the higher rents. Within the urban fabric, such gentrification draws even thicker borderlines between territories of different income groups—encouraging the territorialization of the classes. Gentrification brings about change not only to the private…

On 23rd of February, the Urban Regeneration Headquarters of Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the winner of the design competition for the Namsan-Yejangjarak restoration project. The winning proposal ‘Set-Jarak Park (by Cho Juhwan, SIAPLAN Architects & Planners)’ outlines an urban restoration strategy that will minimize demolition work by preserving and reusing existing buildings and tunnels as much as possible. The proposal has been widely acclaimed for the efficiency of the plan, connecting Myeongdong and Namsan Mountain, the famous tourist attractions of Seoul, by enhancing the historical strata that have built up over different epochs. At the beginning of this Namsan-Yejangjarak restoration project, the final milestone in the Namsan redevelopment project, what changes will Namsan undergo and how will this affect Seoul, a metropolitan city? Historical Strata Accumulated over Hundreds of Years…

Is it possible to modernize any aspects of traditional Korean culture? The ‘Project to Discover and Expand the Space for Modern Korean Culture’ began in 2012, researching Korean space and completing its exterior model support in 2015. With Incheon International Airport and Suncheon Jangcheon Vest-pocket Park chosen as its site, the objective is to develop an overarching model. A Hanok (traditional Korean housing) shaped resting area has been installed on the passageway between the traffic centre and the passenger terminal in Incheon International Airport. Its presence stands out between the large modern architectural framework built with steel and glass and the big screen projecting video footage. Subject to the traditional form of the Hanok, the structure does not have traditional roof tiling, but reveals the form with a steel frame.…

The solo exhibition of Sungsic Moon, the youngest artist in the Korean Pavilion at the 2005 Venice Biennale and who received wide acclaim at the time from the international art world, was held on Mar. 9 at the DOOSAN Gallery—five years after his last exhibition in this country. Noteworthy works in this exhibition, showing a total of 26 paintings created since 2013, are Interior of a Forest and Night described the scenery of night on 4m canvases. To trace back to time, these works began with Texture of the Night, which was presented for the first time at Kukje Gallery in 2011. Savage beasts and deers are in a mountain, a bird soars, and a hunter and dogs are engaged in a chase to catch them on the canvas in…

The process of architecture is often described in biological terms. The exhibition ‘Breeding’ by Jeong Euiyeop (principal, AND) held in the Louverwall, Paju, from Feb. 22 to Mar. 31 also systematizes the previous works of AND based on a biological concept. The exhibition is significant for two mean. First is that while the Louverwall is a new work by AND, the exhibition was held as an open house. So, this presents the opportunity to look into and experience the architecture in its every application as the main event of the exhibition. Second is the topographical map of his works drawn up by the architect himself. Although panels and models made of photographs, images and floor plans were typical, what forms the exhibition’s main context is that the architect himself systematized…

After the enactment of Regional Culture Promotion Act in 2013 to promote unique and characteristic local culture, and to narrow an interregional gap, local government and community keep trying to invigorate regional culture through the development of cultural district and the promotion of local cultural professional training. In 2014, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has chosen Namwon for the Culture City Project that discovers the city’s specialized cultural resources. Many large and small projects in Namwon reveal their outlines. Among them, the primary Namwon Roo Project disclosed to the public. Namwon Roo project is a design project that artists and citizens create spaces for cultural activity together in the downtown area. The result of the project will be used as the public cultural place where is able to host…

The 1927 Carl Theodor Dreyer film The Passion of Joan of Arc: you remember the ecstatic face of Renée Falconetti. Round hair cut short, Matali Crasset shows a much less dramatic figure, but she has this Eastern French temperament: strong, self-conscious, ready. She laughs and doesn’t pretend to be followed because she hears voices. She is followed, convincing as she listens and talks in return. She asks questions and she delivers her speech quickly, always ready to go. She is an industrial designer, hardcore and sensitive, able to focus and to touch upon numberous fields that concern aesthetic life, daily life and larger infrastructures. She wears what she has designed: glasses, sweatshirts etc. Her glasses and haircut build up a character: a bit androgynous, a tomboy. She has been to…

AND’s architecture has been desperate to create architectural brilliance, and in turn pushed the relationship between geometry and landscape, space and surface, mass and walls to the extreme. This type of approach does not seem all that different from the non-linear method of trading modern architecture, which uses the repetition of empty spaces, so it has been viewed as nothing special. This is the reason why AND’s works seem no different from Deleuze’s method of creation out of difference, with the same the blurred boundaries between materials. The practice of diverging from the usual directions is different from geometric shapes that resemble the land or a programme. We can take that action, but we should also attempt to go beyond it as well. AND’s exhibition ‘AND Breeding’, planned to coincide…

Creative Thought and the Will to Realisation I think the key values in one’s life must be created through the practice of dreaming, creative thinking and persistently working to realise one’s dream. Of course, some underestimate the value of architecture. They think of buildings merely as a series of exteriors and flat surfaces, or a group of unified materials, or even simply as the process of finishing interiors. Architecture, however, is far more complex than this, and has an inherent cultural value. Architects must have a fundamental understanding of why the space must exist and therefore explore ways to tailor it to its surrounding environment, creating a space that not only meets the ideals of clients but the purpose of the users. Architecture is the process of making complicated dreams…

Art’s engagement with urban space is not a new subject. The art form that is widely known as ‘public art’ has been practiced for many decades, primarily to defy the prevalent white cube of the modernism art. It has been presented mainly in the form of outdoor installation and performance, focusing extensively on the interaction with the public. In spite of consistent efforts made by artists and critics to articulate the meaning of public art, the discourses have remained within the domain of fine art and determined by art’s relationship with the public: how artworks communicate with an audience or contribute to the community. What about seeing art through the lens of the urban or through urban studies? The essays on this issue attempt an alternative interdisciplinary approach to broaden…

WHY DO PUBLIC SPACE AND ITS CONTROL MATTER? Max Colson, a Leverhulme Trust Artist-in-Residence of the UCL Urban Laboratory (2014 – 2015), has explored the issues of security and control in urban space. In his early project Hide and Seek, he captured sites of these systems in operation, often cloaked by greeneries that are generally conceived as being free from any political connotations. In this series, Colson, under the pseudonym of Adam Walker-Smith, set up a theatrical situation in which a security devise sits still as a personified character captivated by Walker-Smith’s shot. As in the Friendly Proposals for Highly Controlling Environments, he sometimes proposed alternative forms of control devices with digitally altered photographs, delineating a satirical narrative about control. 1 In the recent project at the UCL Urban Laboratory,…

The first exhibition of 2016 at MoA, Seoul National University is a traveling exhibition conceived by the curator and artist Volker Albus, ‘New Olds: Design between Tradition and Innovation.’ Supported by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), it was first exhibited in Israel in 2011 and traveled around the world, landing Seoul this year after Nanjing, China, last year. Before the public, the exhibition, with its unique sense of humour, pours out design products that were remade using each designer’s interpretation of the ‘old’ as a filter. ‘Old’ here means the mixture of the two concepts, ‘tradition’ in the cultural contexts that have accumulated over the ages and the ‘old’ as in the physically old, which are, together, established in the word ‘new.’ As such, it acts as a catalyst that inspires…

Today, OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) is the most emblematic presence in contemporary architecture. Last Feb. 25, Reinier de Graaf, one of OMA’s partners gave a special lecture in the D Lounge of Daelim Museum. He is the director of AMO (Architecture for Metropolitan Office), a research & design studio that is part of the think-tank of OMA founded by Rem Koolhaas, a master of contemporary architecture recognized for his contributions to both architectural theory and practice. Graaf is the key figure in OMA. So, what is the role of AMO? He gives a brief definition: ‘the reversed order of OMA makes AMO. Thus, we do everything except for architectural design.’ Indeed, AMO is said to include even journalists and historians, occupational groups considered largely irrelevant to the practice of…

The first exhibition of the year at Daelim Museum, ‘COLOR YOUR LIFE’, opened on 25th of February. To be honest, I had not visited Daelim Museum since their exhibition ‘The 100th Anniversary of Finn Juhl’s Birth’ in 2012. I have however noticed how the queue for the museum had got longer as each year passed, and observed changes to the age range and appearance of visitors every time I visited neighbouring galleries in Tong-ui-dong. There was no particular reason not to visit the museum’s exhibitions. I kept checking the museum’s current exhibitions and took interest in featured artists. Why did I wait four years before revisiting the museum? Spring in the Gallery I once knew, but I did not Visit Before answering this question, a review of the present exhibition…

PLDS (Parametric Louver Design System) is an algorithm that runs in Rhinoceros 3D as a grasshopper file. A team of Seoul National University’s researchers led by professor Choi Jaepil has developed the algorithm funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Korean government. The Beginning Louvers are an effective architectural element to reduce the building’s cooling loads in the summer. The best way to reduce the building envelope’s solar heat gain is to block it before it reaches the glazed surface. However, one often ignores that if the louver design does not reflect the sun’s yearly path, it blocks the desired winter sun, increasing the building’s heating load. Yet, it is hard to prescribe how to design a louver, since the best form of a louver cannot…

Architect: SKM Architects (Ken Min Sungjin) Design team: Cho Pyungjae, Jang Seokyong, Han Hyunsoo, Roh Hyungyu, Lee Chulmin, Ryu Hyeonsu, Lee Seungjune, Moon Kyungmin, Yoo Seungbum, Lee Heegeun, Kim Kwangil, Ahn Seho Construction supervision: Kim Kwangil, Lee Chulmin, Ryu Hyeonsu, Ahn Seho, Kim Wootae Location: 1007-90 Yumyeong-ro, Seorak-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Programme: sightseeing & resort facilities Site area: 150,557m2 Building area: 15,126.04m2 Gross floor area: 45,095.64m2 Building scope: B4, 4F Parking: 183 Max height: 18.8m Building to land ratio: 10.05% Floor area ratio: 16.55% Structure: R.C. Exterior finishing: marble, stucco, metal Interior finishing: marble, paint, wood Structural engineer: Mac Eng. Mechanical engineer: Jusung MEC Electrical engineer: NARA Engineering consultant Landscape design: KSA (Katherine Spitz Associates, Inc.) Construction: Emerson Pacific Interior design: SKM Architects Design period: Nov. 2009 – Feb. 2014…

Anthropologist Mary Douglas’s idea of ‘purity,’ explored in Purity and Danger (1966), describes a modern tendency to maintain an order while removing ‘any matter that is out of place,’ which has become a maxim applied to a diverse range of disciplines. Zygmunt Bauman, in his Wasted Lives: Modernity and Its Outcasts (2004), applied this idea to the context of a globalised neoliberal economy; he employed the economic concept of ‘surplus’ to refer to physically and socially wasted matter, including industrial materials and human beings. Building upon these ideas, I will attempt to interpret waste matter as spatial, considering demolished spaces or zones abandoned due to their lack of use value or exchange value as ‘surplus space.’ The exchange value here is concerned with the political, the social and the historical,…

An exhibition of work by Young Korean Architects, ‘Fragments of a New Housing Language: Contemporary Urban Housing in Korea’ was on show in the National University of Singapore from 22nd of February to 6th of March. This exhibition was part of an annually run series introducing young Korean architects and contemporary architectural culture in new cities around the world, as part of the contemporary Korean architecture overseas exchange initiative organised by the Korea Architects Institute and hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism since 2010. ‘Fragments of a New Housing Language’ constituted a good opportunity to propose alternative residential styles in Korea, and to compare them with the architecture of Singapore. SPACE investigated the significance of an overseas exhibition as well as the exhibition process, by reporting at…

The UIA 2017 Seoul World Architects Congress is only one year and a half away (Sep. 3 – 10, 2017). People in the field of architecture have been both curious and concerned because they had not received any news about the preparations so far made or the contents of the programme. The only news they have heard is that ‘It is of urgent necessity that we prepare a budget of 6 billion KRW’ (Construction Economic Daily, October 2011) and ‘Serious problems have been caused by delayed corporation approval from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’ (Maeil Business Newspaper, December 2015). SPACE will share the current situation from two perspectives, the as yet unclear status of preparations and the unresolved problems, and attempt to bring the forces together for the tasks that lay…