Table of contents for N. 571 in Space

SPACE has covered the Gwangju Folly, Young Architects Program (YAP), the DDP Kiosk, among others, and has always kept a close eye on the meeting point between public art and architecture. In most cases, public projects are given a certain level of budget to work with and receive ideas through contests. After choosing the winning team in the contest, the work is set up and exhibited. However, many problems occur during this process. The final product can change dramatically, due to limitations of the budget and time, due to works that are built in unused spaces that are not used by any residents, or sometimes because the project is not completed due to the inflexible fiscal year and being trapped within regulation provisions. ‘Mr.Pavillon is Coming to Town’ goes through…

On May 22, Hyundai Card opened its third space in Itaewon, the Music Library and Understage, following the Design Library at Gahoe-dong (March 2013 issue of SPACE) and the Travel Library at Cheongdam-dong (June 2014 issue). The two aforementioned spaces were static places to read books, view collections and look around the exhibits. This space is a more dynamic one, for creating music, showing, and listening. The Music Library is above ground, a space for collecting and appreciating analogue vinyl and music-related books; the underground Understage is a space for creating and showing off music. The beginning of this project was in 2008, and seven years elapsed before completion. In the beginning, SANAA (Sejima Kazuyo, Nishizawa Ryue) of Japan designed it as a concert hall for classical music in 2009,…

Kim Jaekwan (Moohoi Architecture Studio) is the very person who promoted ‘Jip-soori’ (tradition Korean term meaning the refurbishment of a house) up to the ranks of architectural design and has continuously questioned the traditional role and function of architects. Kim Jaekwan engages in the holistic process from designing to construction, which transcends an architect’s job of classical designing. He aggressively tears down the simple, divided task process of planning, basic design, execution, and construction, and switches hats from being the onsite director and technician. He calls himself a carpenter and leaves his trace on the scene as he welds and stacks bricks. SPACE dealt with Kim Jaekwan’s transformation from being an architect into a carpenter in the August, 2011 edition special ‘An Architect Available for Home Repair’ while introducing the…

Architect: Moohoi Architecture Studio (Kim Jaekwan) Design team: : Lee Kijoo, Kim Taehwan, Kim Sungjae Location: Myeongnyun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea Program: residence Site area: 120m2 Gross floor area: 37m2 Building scope: 3F Exterior finishing: cement brick, scaffold Interior finishing: wood Design period: Oct. 2014 – May 2015 Construction period: Dec. 2014 – May 2015 JIP-SOORI OF JEJU ISLAND RESTAURANT The materials I initially considered were steel plates and transparent polycarbonate, but I could not yet find a material that can resist the salinity of the ocean water. However, we were in a hurry and began the process of demolition first. In this process, I found out that the material used was a dark coloured tile before it was covered with white paint. The tiles did not come off with ease as we…

On 8 April, I had an appointment to meet with Lee Ufan at Space Lee Ufan while it was making its final preparations for the opening night. However, upon my arrival at the Busan Museum of Art, I could feel an unusual vibe. The curators, architects, and editors from SPACE were keeping their distance from the gallery. The details of the case: It all started when Lee Ufan’s Relatum (2015) was moved to the other end of the gallery for the workers to complete the floor finishing. As everything was so urgent, nobody thought about drawing up a plan before moving the art piece. Lee Ufan, who saw his work moved without careful thought was so furious that you could hear his enraged voice from outside the gallery. Some might…

Reviewer A The Spac is expressed as if it is installation art. The layering of spaces and the exposed structure of the ceilling are the high points. In addition, I could see the way the light enters and the comparision between textures that makes the space rich. This space makes the artist, not the architect, find the special impression within a space through the contrast of matters such as the cement and wood. Reviewer B This building should be thought of in terms of the location and the purpose. It presents us with the point to conserve and refer in the remodelling reallity in Korea, fragmentally and uniformly done. Especially, re-using the space and the materials and the reestablishing the usages are of great importance. Architect: Florencia Costa Project assistant:…

One architect once said, ‘Architecture starts with inspiration and is revealed in reality. The reality should touch us as an accumulative inspiration’. In architecture, the inspiration comes from the architect’s attitude, sensibility, and philosophy of life. The architectural realization comes from the process of actualizing the act of life that is considered by the site and the programme. In the project Harmonious, architectural masses are composed by creating diagrams of the programme, harmoniously mediating between various architectural forms. If the specific programme is completed in the demands of the clients and if the corresponding circulations and actions that are decided later are the typical process of design, this house has faithfully followed that process. Having a mixture of various sized blocks, the house seemed vagrant and disparate from only looking…

A swiss knife is a tool made for Swiss soldiers. The brand value, which has been maintained for a long time, comes from the pursuit of delicate functions, durability, and aestheticism. Pulling out different tools out from the pocket portrays a functional yet geometric fluidity and order at once. The plan of the project Pyeongchang-dong house P somehow resembles a Swiss knife. It is composed of an empty body (main room) and the tools (affiliated facilities) that have specific functions. Louis Kahn originally came up with the idea of organizing a building with supporting spaces and supported spaces. He argued about the necessity of a sturdy and closed supporting space, recognising the demand for all kinds of mechanical services such as air conditioning facilities and elevators, which will increase in…

Abraham Cruzvillegas has presented temporary sculptures and installations illustrating the construction process involved in an individual’s identity, created amongst various social, political, economic, and historical conditions. ‘Autodestrucción8: Sinbyeong’ is the eighth episode of the artist’s Autodestrucción series, an ongoing project by Cruzvillegas since 2012, held in in various locations such as Los Angeles, Mexico City, Paris, and London. For this exhibition, Cruzvillegas collected abandoned objects from redevelopment areas in Seoul and generates new possibilities of useless objects. On 2nd April, we have talked about the subtitle of this exhibition ‘sinbyeong’ and artist’s personal stories which have underpinned his works. Woo Hyunjung (Woo): You mentioned the notion of houses being both built and destroyed simultaneously. Speaking of that, I think that both words, Autoconstrucción and…

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced the results of the international design competition for the Seoul Station 7017 Project (Seoul Station Overpass into park construction project)—which has been at the centre of controversy. The winning design was Netherland architect Winy Maas’ ‘The Seoul Arboretum’. The design views the 936m overpass of Seoul Station as a giant tree, and the lamps and sidewalks are viewed as branches of a tree. From Toegye-ro to Jungnim-dong, the project is to have various plants that grow naturally in Korea planted in alphabetical order, and it will be developed into a park that connects with the existing urban area, and will have plants growing on their own. Due to the limitations on the weight of the traffic on the bridge, the soil depth had to…

As the city water supply infrastructure, built in the 1970s, was decommissioned as we entered the 2000s, there have been a number of cases of these old facilities being regenerated as art spaces. Such examples are the Yun Dong-ju Memorial Museum (2012), the Seonyudo Park (2002), and the Seonyudo’s History Center (2013). On April 24, the Seoul Street Art Creation Center (SSACC) opened after the completion of a regeneration project from the Guui Intake Station. Because water pumping, purification, and inlet stations are all facilities that contain and manage water, they are designed to have an elevated height to allow construction of machinery facilities, and built with thick concrete walls to withstand water pressure, mechanic noise and vibration. The Guui Intake Station was constructed in 1976, and consisted of two…

Architect: Moohoi Architecture Studio (Kim Jaekwan) Design team: Lee Keejoo, Kim Taehwan, Kim Sungjae, Jeong Mincheol Location: Haye-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju Island, Korea Program:cafe, residence Site area: 109m2 Gross floor area: 103.3m2 Building scope: 2F Exterior finishing: cement brick Interior finishing: cement brick, water paint Design period: Jun. 2013 – Oct. 2014 Construction period: Jan. – Oct. 2014…

On 29th of April, Kim Jeongim, Moon Hoon, Young Jang and Kim Jaekwan got together at Kim Jaekwan’s house, which was also the 10th Jip-soori project (Cheolmin’s Jip-soori), for the ‘R+P’ meeting. ‘R+P’ is a regular meeting amongst these four architects that stands for ‘realistic’ and ‘practical’. This article reorganizes the two-hour long discussion into a summary of keywords: ‘borders’, ‘change’, ‘village’, and ‘future’. BORDERS Kim Jaekwan (Kwan): The Cheolmin’s house is a 12 pyeong (39m2 ) sized, the three room space of 18m in length and 1.2m in width. Divisions were removed by tearing down the walls and a small kitchen was installed indoors. The entrance in the front yard was made small because it is an immensely open space where you can oversee the mountains and a valley.…

After hearing the title Harmonious, I started wondering what harmony is about, and whether the work actually deals with harmony. In order to explain the concept, the architect introduced the client’s family—a German husband, a Korean wife, and their daughter. The architect told me that the main task of the design was a journey of mediating between the couple, each of whom had distinct opinions about the future of their home. Multicultural projects can be very appealing. The mixture between cultures with essential differences has various aspects. An open heart is required to accept the difference, and often times such differences can create tension. However, such a contrast also contains the possibility of a new and interesting combination. People find things that are familiar/new or similar/different, and find it appealing.…

A certain area in the Pangyo district restricts the installation of fences. This was probably an attempt to promote open communities by configuring gardens as public spaces through the eradication of fences, similar to some regions seen in Western cultures. However, at this point in time, Koreans probably instinctively envisioned a fence surrounding a garden as a means to distinguish ‘my house’ from the road, accompanied by a spatial composition in which the indoors opens out onto a madang (forecourt) when they thought of a single family house. To these people, the madang is a private space that should not be open to one’s neighbours. As such, it is likely that in an attempt to realize the contemporary Korean typology of single houses within the unit district planning guidelines of…

The design of house P uses a ‘maximum site occupancy and maximum architectural regulations’ to create its overall form, attempting to take in the wider surrounding environment into the interior and exterior spaces. The exterior, revealed by the corner and its elevation, has some unnatural aspects determined by its ‘not designed’ form, rejecting exterior segments as much as possible to reveal a unified mass. The interior is designed to make small spaces appear larger. The living room, library, and the kitchen on the second floor are part of the ‘family room’, which are not separated by walls, but by the wooden crossbeams on the ceiling. It also features the wedge shaped bathroom and terrace, which leads to the experience of a special space. Intuitive Craftsmanship vs. Tectonic Knowledge_ For a…

It’s already been fifteen years since the first generation of alternative spaces appeared on the Korean art scene. Alternative is more of an idea than a word of substance, and perhaps even closer to a pose or an attitude. With alternative spaces, the Korean art scene entered an age of more advanced, challenging, and experimental art. However, it is not so clear what the alternative is within Korean art. In its most literal sense, alternative can refer to reckless or radical attempts made at the margins of mainstream practice, and the therefore dominant mode of expression. This does not mean that all experimental attitudes are welcomed and baptized by the alternative. The alternative is a struggle against our current ennui, something caused by the hackneyed and standard power structures, which…

On April 30, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) opened an international idea competition to discover new and exciting ideas for urban regeneration of the Jamsil Sports Complex. The areas designated under the contest are the Hangang (river) and its environs, Tancheon, and the entire 948,000m2 of the Jamsil Sports Complex. It has the largest area of any competition that has been held in Seoul. The DDP’s entire area is 62,692m2 . The recently announced guidelines indicate that during the construction of the international exchange complex, people still have to be able to use the sports facilities, and the main stadium will be kept in its current location, considering its symbolic and historical importance. It will however be remodeled, and 15,000m2 of exhibition/convention facilities will be added. Although it is not…

The movie Factory Complex, directed by an artist Im Heungsoon, which entered the 56th Venice Biennale international exhibition, won the Silver Lion Award. On May 14, a press conference was held in the theatre Art Nine in Seoul regarding the award, with artist Im Heungsoon and producer Kim Minkyung. In the past, works that had won awards in art exhibitions were exhibited later in Korea after the initial exhibition overseas, but since Im’s work is a film, it will be exhibited in Korea almost at the same time as the exhibition in Venice. The main character of the Factory Complex is a female proletariat, but it does not focus on any certain ideology, and it does not criticize any certain situations. Instead, the voices of the people living their daily…

Architect: Moohoi Architecture Studio (Kim Jaekwan) Design team: Lee Keejoo, Kim Taehwan, Kim Sungjae, Lee Hyunjae Location: Seongbuk-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea Program: residence Site area: 380m2 Gross floor area: 226.7m2 Building scope: B1F, 2F Exterior finishing: cement brick, Al panel, Al curtain wall Interior finishing: water paint Design period: Jul. 2013 – Dec. 2014 Construction period: Sep. 2013 – Dec. 2014 SOORI SOORI, JIP-SOORI I received my first Jip-soori project four years ago. I have never in my life driven, let alone even attempted to move a car, nor correctly recited the serial number of my gun while serving in the army. It is ironic that I, completely illiterate in terms of numbers and technology, took up Jip-soori as my profession, which requires critical problem-solving skills. One of the main reasons Julia’s…

‘Space Lee Ufan’ opened on 10 April, marking it as the second gallery that highlights the artist’s name following Lee Ufan Museum, Nashima (opened in 2010, SPACE issue 516). It took five years for the gallery to be completed, starting with the original plan of the building Lee Ufan’s personal art museum in Busan Park, to the modified plan of the current annex building at the Busan Museum of Art. Daegu also offered an art museum with the artist’s name, but its efforts were discouraged due to budget constraints. Busan seized the initiative, even though it was the last bidder while the Gwangju Museum of Art, which possesses the Lee Ufan collection, was sluggish in its efforts. People have high expectations of the first gallery named after Lee Ufan in…

Schematic designer: Lee Ufan Executive architect and Supervisor: Ahn Yongdae (principal, KAGA architects & planners) Design team: Bak Gyeongmo, Jeon Jinyeong, Kang Yeong Location: 1413, U-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan, Korea (Busan Museum of Art) Programme: Gallery Site area: 27,191.50m2 Building area: 587.88m2 Gross floor area: 1,400.83m2 Building scope: B1, 2F Height: 15.6m Building to land ratio: 19.73% (addition 2.16%) Floor area ratio: 41.89% (addition 4.24%) Structure: reinforced concrete Exterior finishing: exposed mass concrete, Low-E double galzing glass Interior finishing: matte acrylic paint Structural engineer: Min Tech Construction: Hwang To Const. Mechanical engineer: Joong-Ang EMC Electrical engineer: Gwang-Myeong ENG Design period: Aug–Dec. 2013 Construction period: Mar. 2014 – Mar. 2015 Client: Busan Metropolitan City If contemporary architecture has focused most particularly on methods of expression for aesthetic aspects, contemporary art has tended to resemble architecture…

Reviewer A The building volume is much bigger than that of the surrounding houses, but the architect scaled it down with well-divided cubes. The organization of the divided masses seems to be in disorder at first glance, but on second viewing it is quite clearly stable. The construction quality is fine for a such a suburb house. Reviewer B The brick screen facing the courtyard is impressive. The sunlight sifting through the slits of the screen changes following the sun’s altitude, and continually shifts the atmosphere of the interior of the building. Architect: Joongwon Lee (Sungkyunkwan University) + iSM-Architects (Kyung-A Lee) Design team: Hyomin Lee, Jisun Kim Location: Dongoh-ri 379-2, Gangha-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Programme: Residence Site area: 1,084m2 Building area: 208m2 Gross floor area: 321.4m2 Building scope: 2F (including parking lot) Parking:…

Reviewer A An interesting attempt to introduce light indoors, from above to underground, by using a curved alcove. A wisely thought out rational design that utilizes the underground space to compensate for the insufficient living area on the first floor. Reviewer B This project incorporates a refined architectural style to complete an aesthetically advanced project. However, for a residential project, the indoors would benefit from more interesting spaces. The ramp in the living room on the second floor could also be an awkward or dangerous feature for families with small children. Architect: Min Workshop (Min Woosik) Design team: Yang Insung, Ahn Heekyung, Cho Hyungjin Location: Pangyo-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Korea Programme: Multi-family house Site area: 234.82m2 Building area: 120.5m2 Gross floor area: 307.28m2 Building scope: B1, 2F Parking: 3 Height: 11m Building to land…

Reviewer A The composition for each level in this three storey building displays a plan that breaks of the typical residential house. However, the form viewed from the entrance area is not aesthetically pleasing, because it was designed on top of a steep slope. It has a symbolic presence among the older houses, because it is also located in the entrance of the village. Reviewer B In spite of having a sloped and cramped site, it has managed to plan the spaces well in a delicate manner. Featuring a wooden structure, it has solved the stuffy feeling in the house by revealing the wooden structure on the third floor with a high ceiling. The windows are arranged in such a way to capture the scenery of Pyeongchang-dong. supa schweitzer song…

Artist: Daniel Goddemeyer, Moritz Stefaner, Dominikus Baur, Lev Manovich Contributor: Software Studies Initiative (Mehrdad Yazdani, Jay Chow, Nadav Hochman) / Brynn Shepherd and Leah Meisterlin / PhD students at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY): Agustin Indaco (Economics), Michelle Morales (Computational Linguistics), Emanuel Moss (Anthropology), Alise Tifentale (Art history) materials provided by On Broadway Team A Visual Metaphor for Thinking about the City Jane Misun Shim (Shim): For what specific purpose did you choose the site ‘Broadway’ for the project On Broadway? Lev Manovich (Manovich): Broadway is the longest continuous street crossing all of Manhattan [21km (13 miles)], from its southern to the northern point. It also the oldest south-north street crossing Manhattan—originally it was a trail made by Native Americans who inhabited this area. The Dutch…