Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Space

Compared to ‘Gangnam’ and ‘Gangbuk’, the term ‘Northeastern Seoul’ is not that familiar. The areas from the northeast Hanyang wall to the Bukhansan Mountain and Dobongsan Mountain were Donggyo and Bukgyo and there were farms and fields in these areas until the early 20th century, but since the Japanese colonial era, they have been changing rapidly with the construction of railroads and the expansion of Seoul. The exhibition of the Seoul Museum of History, entitled ‘Northeastern Seoul: From Crop Fields to Forest of Apartments’ illuminates the present conditions of the areas of Gangbuk-gu, Dobong-gu, Nowongu and Jungnang-gu, all of which are the northeastern part of Seoul. The exhibition has two chapters, ‘The Overview of Northeastern Seoul’, showing the layers of time, and ‘Twenty spots of the Northeastern Seoul’, focusing on…

Following Seoul, Gwangju, and Busan, the Pyeongchang Biennale opened at E-zen on Feb. 3. As the theme of the large scale biennale that opened last Sep. was about the future, this time around it chose to focus mainly on the daily lives of citizens. The biennale started in 2013, with the decision to host the Winter Olympics in 2018. This year, it has created a synergy effect by opening together with the Gangneung Folk Art Festival, which began in 2014. The unified theme for the events, both hosted by the Gangwon-do province and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is ‘The Five Moons’. There is an expression that five moons appear in Gyeongpodae Pavilion, Gangneung. They are the moon in the sky, the moon reflected by the…

 If, when I first saw this delicately shimmering silver-toned space, I said I was reminded of a lab in an innovative IT company or an operations centre in a sci-fi movie, would it be an exaggeration? Surprisingly, the space is a lecture hall constructed in a university, and it is a multipurpose space made especially for design postgraduates. Kiosks, which have been regarded as a secondary element, are here embraced for their display purposes and operate as a main feature in the characterization of the space. Digital media, which is now absolutely indispensable for design work, now has a dedicated space that takes their realization and development as the main element in their study. Standing there, I wondered if this space could help me to find clues for the future…

Listen to the City, which started in 2009 as a relaxed community that brings together architects both home and abroad, have long dedicated their efforts towards shedding light on and triggering discourse about the hidden paradoxes of city spaces, including imbalances noted in the Chonggyecheon restoration project, the Yongsan fire incident, DDP, and the Four Rivers Project. This group unravels the ‘power relations that possess space’ and keeps a record of the omitted moments in history. Their methods vary. They publish magazines dealing with the challenges faced by Seoul City’s redevelopment projects in a manner that the mainstream media and architecture journals do not (such as Urban Drawings) and devise project galleries from containers, sometimes occupying spaces (such as the independent space ‘Space Morae’). They also trace the histories of…

Zero Space was conceived by an art education programme performed by two artists at the Haesong Community Childcare Center in Changshin-dong in 2011. Since then, Zero Space has groen to become a social enterprise that the media frequently associates with keywords such as regional regeneration and community art. In answer to the question ‘what role can artists play in society and how can they survive?’, the two presidents provide an answer based upon their activities of establishing a horizontal relationship in co-existence between the local area and artists. By creating products that draw upon the competitiveness of Changshin-dong infrastructure, they have created a fundamental shift in society. Their idea of sustainability is not just limited to the clothing industry. As artists/designers/social entrepreneurs, they strive to expand their design philosophy to…

Project: residential project and redevelopment of the former Commonwealth Institute Architect: OMA (Reinier de Graaf) + Allies and Morrison (Simon Fraser, Robert Maxwell) Director: OMA — Carol Patterson / Allies and Morrison — Neil Shaughnessy Project architects: OMA — Mario Rodriguez, Isabel Silva, Fenna Wagenaar, Mitesh Dixit, Richard Hollington III, Beth Hughes Location: Kensington High Street, Holland Park, London, UK Programme: refurbishment of the Grade II* exhibition building and three new resid ential blocks Site area: Design Museum — 110,000m2 / residential — 19,788.3m2 (54 units) / public space — 6,787.9m2 Building area: Design Museum — 29,000m2 / residential block A — 603.86m2 / residential block B — 836.12m2 / residential block C — 557.41m2 Contractor: Mace Structural engineer: Arup Structures Services engineer: Arup Services Facades: Arup Facades, FMDC Fire:…

Has the sculpture evolved along with the discovery of new technology, in the same way as Fine art? How far has the sculpture departed from a traditional lexis? If we were to write down the conditions by which we can categorise sculpture in today’s world, we would notice a striking difference from critical modes of the past. Sue Kim, Sungah Serena Choo, and Jeongyoon Choi, curatorss of the exhibition entitled ‘Things: Sculptural Practice’ which is an outcome of the DOOSAN Curator Workshop, say that the answers to the aforementioned questions lie in the two–dimensional experience of a sculptor. Digital devices have made mankind more sensitive to the feel of flat surfaces due to constant contact. The same goes for sculptors. The initial premise of this exhibition was that sculptors too…

Rolex, the Swiss luxury watch brand, is accepting applicants for the 2018 Rolex Awards for Enterprise until June 30. The Rolex Awards is a social contribution programme established in 1976 and has given support to raising the standard of education and quality of life all around the world. From 2010, through the Young Laureates programme, it began finding and supporting future leaders between the ages of 18 – 30. So far, 33,000 people from 190 countries have applied for the awards, and among them, 140 young innovators have benefitted. Composed of a group of experts, the judging committee reviews project proposals submitted by applicants. They assess how much a proposal will contribute towards raising the standard of living and education, along with its practicality, originality and latent value, while also…

The nature-themed ‘Neo-naturalism’ exhibition, held between Jan. 5 – Feb. 22 at ILWOO Space, was located at the first floor lobby of the Korean Airline’s Seosomun Building. Naturalism is a philosophy born of the French novelist Emile Zola, who began a movement that stressed the importance of observing nature as it really is. The attempt to portray nature in the era led to the creation of Impressionism. This prompts the question, ‘from what perspective should we draw nature in the 21st century?’ ‘Neonaturalism’ considered contemporary landscape paintings reconfigured from the perspectives of five artists (Kang In-Gu, Kim Chun-whan, Lee Kwang-ho, Rhee Kibong, Lee Sea-Hyun). Kang In-Gu trasnforms seemingly trivial objects such as rocks and toothpicks into hand-crafted sculptures, while Lee Kwang-ho expresses cacti with a certain hyperrealism. The method of…

All around us there are buildings that invite memories. Whether they are personal memories, the memories of past architects, or the memories of times past, they each contain their own unique memories. What kind of attitude should the architect possess when buildings such as these are faced with change? These circumstances are nothing but awkward for those of us who have experienced a disjunction with the times and have forgotten the past. Choon Choi appeared on the scene as an architect who subtly uncovers memories displaced from the Kkummaru and through new interventions has created ‘a bowl of memories’, displaying an architectural methodology that connects the past, present and future. In this Frame, we examine the recent work of Choon Choi through the issue of ‘memory’. By externalizing romantic memories…

Is art really a powerful weapon that can change society? We are living in a time of unprecedented active public participation. It is also a time in which people do not hesitate to express their opinion online or on social media. However, issues that cover our newsfeeds and timelines scatter like dust and are soon replaced by other issues before any action can be taken. The avant-garde, the advanced forces on the front lines, represents new trends or movements in art, from a cultural or political context, and art always suspects and overthrows the present. When artists take action through art for life, not art for art’s sake, they are backed by faith and commitment. Though they may have different interests or areas of activity, the ideal world they dream…

Architect: Archikubik (Marc Chalamanch, Miquel Lacasta, Carmen Santana) Design team: Daniel de Castro, Romain Parent, Diogo Lima, Yolanda Salazar, Juan Miguel Garcia, Mathieu Honorat, Leyre Vitoria, Eric Schuck, Jerónimo Steinger, Giancarlo Cireddu, Elena Giral, Mercè Arto Location: 50 rue du grand saint jean, 34000 Montpellier, France Programme: parking, commercial Site area: 3,693m2 Building area: 3,317m2 Gross floor area: 26,688m2 Building scope: B1, 10F Parking: cars — 792 / motorcycles — 27 / bikes — 60 Height: 27.8m Building to land ratio: 90% Floor area ratio: 723% Structure: concrete, pre-slab system Exterior finishing: ceramic brick (Flexbrick) Interior finishing: painting Structural engineer: PER INGENIERIE-Arnaud / Chakib Tafer Mechanical engineer: SANITHERMIC Electrical engineer: FAUCHE Construction: FONDEVILLE Design period: July 2012 – Dec. 2013 Construction period: Dec. 2013 – July 2015 Budget: 13.4 million…

The UIA 2017 Seoul World Architects Congress (UIA 2017, organising committee chair, Hahn Jongruhl, Seok Junghoon) is due to take place at COEX and Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul from Sep. 3 – 10. The UIA is an architects’ congress, which has a history and tradition of more than 70 years, and a triennial world-scale architectural culture event with 124 countries. It is often called an ‘The Olympics of Architects’. Seoul was granted the honour of hosting the UIA following a competition with Singapore and Mexico City in 2011. The 26th UIA 2017 expects to gather around 30,000 people from 124 countries, including domestic and foreign world-famous architects. It is also anticipated that it will have an economic ripple effect of more than 40 billion KRW. As part of…

Choon Choi AIA/KIA, is a practicing architect and an assistant professor at the Seoul National University, where he has taught in the design studios since 2013, with a particular focus on the intersections between history, art, and architecture. Choi received his Masters of Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from UC Berkeley with highest honors. Prior to relocating to Seoul, he trained in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Pamplona, Spain, and he has also taught at Parsons School of Design, Columbia University, and Korea University. His latest exhibition and installation, ‘A Genealogy of X’, is currently on view at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. But, when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are…

Note 1: Artist Collectives in the 2000s Collective activities in the 2000s were an indisputable stream of creativity on the Korean art scene. This report will recall those days through several artists who had a relationship to the specific temporality and spatiality of Seoul of that era. The Okin Collective, who launched their practice in 2009, stayed for a year in the Okin Apartment to explore the stories on site including the unfortunate situation faced by the tenants during the eviction process due to the abrupt redevelopment project, forced to deal with the traces left by the former residents, the symbolic values of the modernist buildings, and the historicity of the surroundings. Okin Apartments Projects was closed with the demolition of the apartment block, but it continues to advocate for…

Ten Years After Life Style Research & Design Institute (hereafter Institute) was organised to research and design a new way of life, and to propose a sustainable life for all. If ‘lifestyle after ten years’ remains their unchanging signature phrase over a decade later, what is at the core of this practice? It focuses on ‘climate change’. Climate change impacts the overall economy, our politics, and society, causing refugee crises and prompting Western powers to become more and more conservative. Climate change warns us that humanity’s choice of lifestyle since the age of industrialization is no longer sustainable and that immediate actions for change must be devised and implemented. Over the past few years, the Institute has concentrated on curtailing carbon emissions and ‘hot’ city issues, such as the Cool…

Architect: Kyu Sung Woo Architects (Kyu Sung Woo) Project director: Vital Albuquerque Project manager: Seth Hoffman Technical consultant: Mark DeShong Design team: Galo Canizares, Paul Cattaneo, Jose Compres, Max Diperstein, Stephen Paiz, Alfredo Pimentel, Eva Valdecantos, Jiang Zhanbin Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Programme: 295-bed residence hall, lounges and study spaces, multipurpose event space, seminar rooms, student group offices, staff apartments Site area: 45,322m2 Building area: 2,090m2 Gross floor area: 10,219m2 Height: 18m Structure: reinforced cast-in-place concrete Exterior finishing: Roman brick, perforated brushed stainless steel panels, brushed stainless steel solar shades, pre-cast concrete panels, Ipe wood siding Interior finishing: painted gypsum wall board, quarter-sawn white oak floors and wall panels, exposed concrete ceilings, granite floors, carpet Landscape architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Structural engineer: LeMessurier Consultants Construction: Daniel O’Connell’s Sons MEP…

Large-scale and Small-unit Redevelopment—An Illusion Scale, Design, and Walkable Downtown The first article in this series starts with the sites of Euljiro 2-ga and 3-ga streets. Illuminating the themes of scales, designs, and walkable downtown streets, the story focuses on the main ideas as follows: ‘Large-scale development is not necessarily an absolute evil when it comes to the creation and maintenance of good downtown streets, and neither can all small-unit redevelopment be deemed an absolute good.’ ‘It is not large-scale development, but rather, badly designed large-scale development that is bad for good downtown streets; it is not all small-unit redevelopment, but only well designed small-unit redevelopment that is good for downtown streets.’ Additionally, ‘Good design can be ascertained from whether its conditions have well realised the objectives of the urban…