Innehållsförteckning för December 2017 från Space

The OpenHouse Seoul, which first began in 2014, opened its edition this year by showcasing various selected architects and buildings. Opening on Oct. 21, this approximately 10-day event has prepared 40 spaces each containing works concerning the environment, architecture, location, and the arts, revolving around the urban city and also disclosing 13 architecture offices as part of the open festival. There are certain features that are different to last year’s event. One of them is the Architect Feature Programme. This programme allows one to view all the key works of an architect, and the first person to be featured is Choi Wook. Jinyoung Lim (head organizer, OpenHouse Seoul) explained the background for selecting architect Choi Wook for this program: ‘Cho Byoungsoo, Kim Seunghoy, and others have been much published through…

On Oct. 27 and 28, an international symposium under the title ‘Superhumanity: How does a Human Design Itself?’ was held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul hall. Scholars from various fields, such as Chin Jungkwon (professor, Dongyang University), Beatriz Colomina (professor, Princeton University), Catherine Malabou (professor, Kingston University), and others attended the symposium. This symposium focused on the new relationship between the 4th industrial revolution, humanity, and design. MMCA explained, ‘as we are now entering the 4th industrial revolution era, we planned this programme to expand the field of discussion regarding contemporary visual art to the level of humanities by approaching the side of “the human face in a contemporary age” from the perspective of architecture and design’. The symposium proceeded under three broad sections:…

Started with the Public Ideas Poster Contest On one side of Chungjang-ro Market, which is famous for silks and satins, there is a door distinct from its surroundings. Walking along a LED line that ties buildings together, it led us to a public parking lot behind a building. This is the Light Passage of Kim Chanjoong (principal, The_System Lab), Jin Si-yon. The Light Passage, which is one of four FunPun Follies, is a realisation of the winning works of the Public Ideas Poster Contest in 2016. The Public Ideas Poster Contest addressed the absence of communication and gave a fresh perspective to the notion of progress through encouraging the participation of citizens. Light Passage started with the first prize, Folly as Urban Library, is an idea for the installation of…

The New York-based practice Snarkitecture recently unveiled their interactive installation in collaboration with the fashion brand COS at the Gana Art Center. The practice, codirected by Daniel Arsham, a designer and Alex Mustonen, an architect creates imaginative work that blends architecture, installation and environmental object, exploring the boundaries between art and architecture. SPACE met with the founding partner Alex Mustonen on his visit to Seoul for the opening of their exhibition.  Oh Juyeon (Oh): This is your third collaboration with COS. Can you share how this installation differs from previous collaborations with COS? Alex Mustonen (Mustonen): I think COS knew our work well and we knew their work well. We have a sort of mutual understanding in how we approach our work and think about ideas of reduction and simplicity.…

Dreaming of Earth Floating Garden, Jungja, Tower Taebongguk, Forest of Gung-ye Vault of Life and Knowledge Landmine demining Floating Garden, Jungja, Tower I suggest a Floating Garden, which is also a pathway made of bamboo across over 13km of the DMZ. The structure consists of a pathway that is elevated 3 – 6m from the ground and Jungjas separated out from the main passage at every kilometer. In this project, Jungja connotes a different meaning from that of a pavilion or pagoda used in western gardens. In the context of this project, a Jungja is neither an independent architecture nor a structure in the middle of garden. It is a kind of a ‘dispatched’ structure—a small dispatched house in the garden that is simultaneously a part of nature. In other…

Architect: gad Design Group Co. Ltd Project partner: Meng Fanhao Design team: Zhu Min, Zhu Xiaocheng, Li Qiang Location: Dongziguan Village, Fuyang, Hangzhou, China Programme: house Site area: 19,277.6m² Building area: 7,170.61m² Gross floor area: 15,286.98m² Building scope: 3F Parking: 48 Height: 11.1m Building to land ratio: 37.2% Floor area ratio: 79% Structure: reinforced concrete Exterior finishing: paint, stone, Chinese style blue roofing tile Interior finishing: paint Structural engineer: Hu Damin, Qian Luxi, Ni Weijie Construction: Hangzhou Changfu Construction Co.,Ltd. Mechanical engineer: Cui Daliang, Zhang Yueqiang Electrical engineer: Wang Yang Design period: Sep. 2014 – Mar. 2015 Construction period: Apr. 2015 – July 2016 Client: Changkou Town Government in Fuyang District of Hangzhou…

 Architect: Rieuldorang (Kim Seongryul) Design team: Lee Hansae Location: Manhwa-ri, Dudong-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, Korea Programme: residential Site area: 418m2 Building area: 83.43m2 Gross floor area: 144.25m2 Building scope: 2F Height: 7.7m Parking: 1 Building to land ratio: 19.96% Floor area ratio: 34.51% Structure: light wood framing structure Exterior finishing: cement brick, Flextex fissure Interior finishing: hardwood floor, eden bio wallpaper Mechanical and electrical engineer: JS ENG Construction: Manbull Construction Design period: July 2016 – Apr. 2017 Construction period: May – Sep. 2017 Client: Bae Seongjae Kim Seongryul graduated from Dongseo University and Pusan National University Graduate School and opened his office Rieuldorang in 2013 based on 10 years of practical experience. He also served as an adjunct professor of Architecture at Dong-Eui University. He is trying to communicate with…

The Hyundai Card has overhauled conventional ideas of not only financial products and services but also of other fields, and as a result has created STUDIO BLACK, where the concept of co-working has been reinvented. Hyundai Card has created a new concept for space by leveraging marketing and brand capabilities and spatial management abilities accumulated in company buildings and libraries home and abroad. STUDIO BLACK uses eight-story of Hongu 2 building near Gangnam Station, and is comprised of a ‘studio floor’ where members have their independent working space, and a ‘lounge floor’, an open space where people can ease into communicating and creating networks. The studio floor is characterised by its elaborate module-type structure design. Most areas accommodate one to ten people, but the space can be expanded to create…

A panel discussion under the theme ‘The Age of Architecture: Architecture that Changes People’s Lives’ was held on Oct. 26 at the Members’ Office Building of the National Assembly of South Korea. Building codes are made not by architects but by the National Assembly. Although there is no shortage of discussion forums for architecture, this discussion attracted particular attention because it was hosted by the commissioner of the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly and discussed by congressmen. The event was comprised of a congratulatory speech, presentations, and discussions. Cho Jungsik (commissioner, Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee) and Yoon Seunghyun (president, Korea Architects Institute) delivered welcoming remarks, followed by Min Hongchul (assemblyman, the Democratic Party of Korea), Yoon Youngil (assemblyman, People’s Party), and Kim Hyunmee (minister, Land,…

Installation art, such as sculpture or architecture, is destined to be rooted to the land. Because of this, certain locations not only give inspiration to an artist, but also become the motivating force of a work or the beginning and end of a project. As will we discover, the works of the following nine individuals are location-specific works that have reinterpreted and reimagined the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in Korea – a very unique location. Jae-eun Choi, who has been planning this project for a long time under the name ‘Dreaming of the Earth’, responded firmly when asked whether he has other plans to experiment or install the project somewhere other than the DMZ that there is no point if it is not there. The idea of a Korean pavilion (Jungja)…

Architect: Project : Architecture (John Hong) Design team: Jinhee Park (SsD), Taylor Harper, Daniel Carlson, Hyein Kim, Kiwon Jeon, Victor Michel, Yufeng Zheng Location: Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA Programme: residence Site area: 3,995m² Building coverage: 235m² Gross floor area: 353m² Scope: B1, 2F Building to land ratio: 5.88% Floor area ratio: 8.83% Structure: wood platform framing and glulam Exterior finishing: fiber cement board, standing seam aluminum Structural engineer: Evan Hankin Mechanical and electrical engineer: Peter Osowski, Vanguard Energy Partners Design period: Mar. 2014 – June 2015 Construction period: Nov. 2015 – June 2017…

SPACE: This project was led by the Hangzhou government, and fifty housing units have been provided on a site of 15,300m2 with the aim of improving the living environments of rural inhabitants. What were the living conditions like at Dongziguan village before the project? Meng Fanhao (Meng): Dongziguan Village has a long history and profound cultural background. However, with the decline in both agriculture and water carriage, the village that has long been prosperous is now experiencing a great recession. Many traditional dwellings are in a bad state of disrepair, making it hard for the local residents to live in. Besides, several families sharing a single courtyard have added to the worsening situation. Considering that long-established living habits and customs may not follow the changes to the daily living spaces,…

 Architect: IDR Architects (Lee Seung Hwan, Jun Borim) Design team: Choi Jeongseok, Cha Juhyup, Jung Dongwook, Seo Sehee, Lee You Me Location: 138-19 Maegok-ro, Buk-gu, Ulsan, Korea Programme: public library Site area: 3,787m2 Building area: 731.34m2 Gross floor area: 2,103.77m2 Building scope: B1, 3F Height: 12.75m Parking: 20 Building to land ratio: 19.31% Floor area ratio: 43.80% Structure: reinforced concrete Exterior finishing: aluminium louver, board formed concrete, exterior insulation finishing system Interior finishing: water based paint on concrete, aluminium louver ceiling Structural engineer: Harmony Structural Engineering Mechanical and electrical engineer: Hana Consulting Engineers Construction: Migun Construction Design period: Aug. 2015 – Feb. 2016 Construction period: Apr. 2016 – Apr. 2017 Construction budget: 4.6 billion KRW Client: Ulsan Buk-gu Lee Seung Hwan studied landscape architecture and architecture at Seoul…

 On 9 Mar. 2016, to the whole world’s surprise, AlphaGo defeated Lee Sedol in a series of artificial intelligence Go matches. Of the five matches, AlphaGo won with a score of 4-1. Many people paid attention to the single victory of Lee as a human being, but there was also the inevitable concern that a ‘human was eventually beaten by artificial intelligence’. This match became an opportunity for the artist Oh Wonbae to explore the value of human existence, which is gradually being marginalised by a highly developed machine civilisation. I visited the artist’s first large-scale solo exhibition for five years on show at the OCI Museum. Kim Geumyoung (Kim): I heard that you conceived the idea for this exhibition around five years ago. You have been interested in the…

Rarely will one come across someone who has not been instantly charmed by the warm perspectives put forth in Nakamura Yoshifumi (principal, Reming House)’s books about homes. With approximately 10 books that have been translated into Korean, such as the series Juntaku junrei (A Pilgrimage of Houses), Ichu no kenchiku (The Architecture in My Mind), Building, a House, Architect, Received a letter from the Bakery, and others, it can also be understood that the author has a wide fan base in Korea. Perhaps this is why approximately 200 people were present at his first Korean lecture that was hosted on Nov. 9. This lecture signaled the recommencement of the Jeong-dong Urban Architecture Seminar after a period of rest for four years. Nakamura Yoshifumi’s architecture is humble and warm. While he…

A secret bunker at Yeouido? After dismounting the subway at Yeouido station, on the way to the IFC Mall at the other side of the Yeouido Park, one suddenly comes across an elevator and a narrow set of stairs. This is the passage that leads to a secret bunker. One feels one’s heart start to throb as if this were a scene from a film or a cartoon. Walking down the stairs, one will encounter each of the spaces of the bunker with a sense of fascination. This is now possible as this place was opened to the public on Oct. 19 as an exhibition hall of the Seoul Museum of Art as the SeMA Bunker. The inaugural exhibition of the 150 pyeong wide exhibition hall, ‘Yeouido Modernity’ is currently…

Gwangju Folly, which first appeared in 2011, is now in its third edition, with more than 30 follies across the city of Gwangju. Now this has become one the most famous features of Gwangju. Let us observe five types follies that are totally different to previous follies in their taste, style, and entertainment value.…

‘A landmark for Korean industrial capitalism’, ‘The greatest mixed-use building in Asia’, ‘An urban eyesore’, ‘A cultural residue’, ‘A Barrier in downtown’, and ‘A dystopia in Seoul’. Looking at the nicknames used to describe Sewoon Sangga over the last 50 years helps us understand the ups and downs experienced by Sewoon Sangga. In September 2017, Sewoon Sangga has returned with a new name ‘Remake Sewoon Sangga’. It’s all thanks to the completion of the first phase of ‘Re-Structuring Sewoon Sangga Citywalk’ designed by Chang Yongsoon (professor, Hongik University) and Kim Taekbin (principal, E_SCape). A Minimal Remedy for Revitalization Existing for half a century, Sewoon Sangga received a death notice ordering its complete demolition under the Sewoon redevelopment promotion project in 2006. The plan was changed however in order to demolish…

Jae-eun Choi’s art practice spans sculpture, installation, architecture, photography, video, and sound, creating works that exhibit both delicate and precise formal composition and majestic scale. The artist is best-known for her consistent examination of themes such as the infinite passage of time and the concept of finitude, as shown through her series Nobody Is There – Somebody Is There and World Underground Project. In 1999 she created a docudrama on the Panmunjeom titled On the Way, after which she began to display a consistent interest in the history and division of Korea. She moved to Berlin in 2010, and currently works in Tokyo and Berlin. The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in Korea, which suffered the cruelties of war in the 1950s, has now after 60 years become a place of great…

Park Sungjin (Park): Mutually exclusive ecological and sociological cultural perspectives exist regarding the conservation and utilization of the DMZ, and these perspectives sometimes collide with one another. Between these various opinions, this project can only but account for some of them. Therefore, I cannot but wonder what your views are on the DMZ, and what your definition might be? Jae-eun Choi (Choi): Before answering, I must say that I have a favourable view towards this multiplicity of opinions as I feel that it is necessary to welcome a number of viewpoints on this issue. The DMZ is a space full of unlimited ironies. There is no place on earth as special and strange as this, and I want to look at this place in an optimistic way. It is a…

John Hong (professor, Seoul National University) With the recent institutionalization of sustainability earmarked by the advent of the LEED scoring system in the mid-1990’s, there has constantly been a tacit struggle between energy performance and architectural form. ‘Building Science’ has accelerated as an autonomous discipline and its major components of envelope and mechanical systems have become its most powerful signifiers. Exposed solar panels and super-insulated walls have come to represent architecture’s advocacy of environmental design as an agenda, becoming a kind of semantic stand-in for the politics that the building represents. In an attempt to reclaim architecture’s position in generating form and refining typology, Tung House converges on active and passive sustainability strategies with architectural sequence and space in the creation of a zero-energy dwelling. Located on a strictly regulated…

 Architect: Shenzhen Huahui Design co., LTD Project architect: Xiao Cheng Design team: Yin shibo, He Qifan, Mao Weiwei Location: Beicheng New District, Hefei, Anhui, China Programme: cultural center Site area: 9,000m² Building area: 2,080m² Gross floor area: 3,700m² Building scope: 3F Height: 16m Building to land ratio: 23% Floor area ratio: 41% Structure: reinforced concrete frame structure Exterior finishing: bare concrete, U-profle glass Interior finishing: stone, wood Structural·Mechanical·Electrical engineer: Anhui Horizon Architectural Design Co., Ltd. Design period: Dec. 2016 – Apr. 2017 Construction period: Apr. – Aug. 2017 Client: Hefei Vanke Real Estate Co.,Ltd & Suzhou New Real Estate Group Co., Ltd…