Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2022 i Space

The exhibition, ‘Hermès’ Collections for the Home 2021 ‒ 2022’, which placed an emphasis on the furniture and objects that explore tactile sensations, was on show at Maison Hermès Dosan Park from Oct. 14 to Dec. 2, 2021. This exhibition was the second time that Hermès had chosen to showcase its product line from the 2021 Milan Furniture Fair in Korea. The 2021 Milan Furniture Fair, which is held annually every April, was postponed to September his year due to Coronavirus Disease-19. By reconfiguring the three-floor store building, the exhibition was designed to occupy five rooms in accordance with the scenography of the 2021 Milan Furniture Fair. The geometrical patterning and vivid colours applied to the temporary walls exude a unique atmosphere. The most eye-catching point in the exhibition was…

Since Nov. 25, the special exhibition ‘Time of the earth’ has been on show at The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea (MMCA) Gwacheon. This exhibition examines our present era, which demands a new zeitgeist from an ecological perspective rather than a human-centred perspective in light of the growing pressures presented by climate change and pandemics. The sixteen domestic and foreign artists participating in the exhibition explore themes of symbiosis, connection, and the restoration of balance. Wet Matter, a huge chunk of soil placed in the corner of the entrance to the exhibition hall, is an installation work by Kim Juree that expresses the vitality of soil and water. Seo Dongjoo has long studied the vision of living creatures, and his video work Vision features the eyes of…

On Dec. 1, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and Architecture & Urban Research Institute (auri) live-streamed their ‘The 1st Roundtable of the Korean Museum of Urbanism and Architecture (KMUA)’ on YouTube. The event's theme was the ‘Direction and Practice of Collecting Urban & Architectural Archives’. In the first part, three professionals from architecture, urban design, and landscape design presented directions within the collection. Choi Wonjoon (professor, Soongsil University) suggested that the architectural materials could be divided before and after construction. Of them, he noted, data from the middle era was more valuable than the later because it better reveals the architect’s intellectual process. He also recommended prioritising materials of the private sector among other construction projects, which has a high risk of loss. Park Sehoon (senior research…

2021 Korea Hanok Competition On Nov. 24, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the winners of the 2021 Korea Hanok Competition. This Competition, which has been held annually since 2011 in order to discover and promote the excellence of the hanok, consisted of the following four categories: construction, planning, photography, and video. In the category of construction, the Hadong Hanok Culture Center designed by guga urban architecture (principal, Cho junggoo) was selected as the recipient of this year’s hanok grand prize. This accommodation facility, which combined contemporary hanok features with traditional hanok features, was lauded, winning comments such as ‘Anthropogeographical scenery and natural scenery were applied to the space in consideration of the site and surrounding landscape, and the project’s structure, furniture planning, and finishing details possess a…

Concino Concrete Concino Concrete, located at the foot of the hill along the Imjin River, is a kind of box architecture. Seemingly floating above the ground on a pilotis, it is an independent entity with a clear silhouette set against the sky. In that sense, Mihn Hyunjun’s Concino Concrete reminds us of the ‘prism pur’ that Le Corbusier sought in the mid-1920s. This is true when we consider the simple exterior, a box of classical golden ratio, and the interior which conceals its colourful settings. Acoustic Form The client has a mania for collecting speakers. He has built up a fairly large collection, and so he needed a space to store and display his collection, and in which to play and share music. The building had to feature a chest,…

From AutoCAD to parametric and algorithmic design, digital technology has made major advancements and developed new expertise in the architectural world. However, as ‘drawing’ – the medium that has divided ‘design’ and ‘construction’ since Alberti – was gradually replaced by simulation, the working area of architects is now under threaten. In this context, David Ross Scheer diagnosed our current situation as the age of ‘the death of drawing’ in his book The Death of Drawing: Architecture in the Age of Simulation (2014). Seven years after its publication, this book has been translated into Korean and this translation was published last October. SPACE interviewed the translator Lee Junseok (professor, Myongji University) to consider what drawing means today for an architect, and what impact has such technological advancement had on architectural work…

The exhibition ‘Do You Miss the Future?’ as showcase for the ‘Hyundai Blue Prize Design 2021’ is on display. The Hyundai Blue Prize Design 2021 is an award programme hosted by Hyundai Motor Company, held for the first time in 2021. They support accomplished domestic design curators so that they can be active on the global stage. The theme of this competition was the ‘value of time’. The winner, the curator Sim Somi, planned an exhibition to ponder what the future will look like in the face of increased uncertainty following the pandemic. Fourteen teams, including international graphic designers, architects, visual artists, and researchers, gathered and presented a total of 15 works. The curator Sim Somi said that it was interesting to unite artists from various fields in this design…

On Dec. 14, the exhibition ›Relay Library #2 Superellipse' at whatreallymatters(hereinafter wrm) came to an end. wrm aids those contending with what is now most crucial to the design and publishing culture of Hongik University, so as to widen their own perspectives. Exhibitions, studies, and programmes are all set out to disseminate the conclusions drawn by this process. At the ‘Relay Library’, figures that have long offered inspiration are introduced through a selection of their books. After the first session, which was led by the design group sulki and min (co-principals, Choi Sulki, Choi Sungmin), Superellipse (principal, Chung Hyun) were invited to continue the exhibition. Chung Hyun, the founder of Superellipse, an architecture and publishing office, was shortlisted for the Young Architects Program 2017 and has since participated in a…

Mihn Hyunjun says that a miniature can lead to big revelations. It is an approach that prioritises core and essence. He emphasises the relationship between scale and proportion learned through his body rather than deferring to details or ideals that are difficult to construct or sustain. Focusing on structure rather than form, he creates his own powerful atmosphere. His sociological curiosity leads to the advocacy of a ‘park-like’ ‘loose architecture’ without dividing lines that separate users and functions and as a continuous architecture lacking in distinctions between inside and outside.…

The exhibition ‘Migration to a New Earth Planet’ was held at the Asia Culture Center from the 24th of November to the 5th of December. This exhibition was held to explore the paths along which humanity can coexist with the multivarious beings in this world, and in spaces which are inhabitable due to the irreversible damage caused by climate change and environmental destruction. Eight teams of artists, composed of Shin Jaeeun, Park Jisoo, Chang Eunha, Na Hyesu, Random Group (Jung Chanil · Kim Seunghyun), Kang Minhee, Lee Yoonjae, and Hwang Sunjeong, participated in this exhibition, and through their respective works each team developed and executed works inspired by eight tactics (Re/view, Re/form, Re/search, Re/create, Re/act, Re/ animate, Re/discover, and Re/wilding) in search of a new territory. What future do they…

The Room of Quiet Contemplation has taken its place on the second floor of the National Museum of Korea. In the room, there are two national treasure Pensive Bodhisattva Statues set side-by-side, with one hand on their cheek and immersed in thought. Placing two statues together in one dedicated room, as quite rare objects, posits this as a must-see moment when visiting the National Museum of Korea. The museum created a new gallery of 439m2 , and ONE O ONE Architects (principal, Choi Wook) were charged with its design. It is the first time the National Museum of Korea has collaborated with an architect to create a gallery. The architect Choi Wook said that he intended to express a feeling of union, bonded to the energy of the statues and…

The exhibition, ‘AD Production Urbanism’, was held at Domansa located in Seongsu-dong, Seoul from Nov. 27 to Dec. 17. This exhibition was planned in response to the British architecture magazine AD’s Production Urbanism: The Meta Industrial City in which PRAUD participated as guest editor for the recent September-October issue. In this exhibition, texts from the book as well as interview videos and models built by 15 teams, composed of architects and professionals based in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa, were all on display. The interviewees either approached production urbanism conceptually or proposed pertinent architectural methods. The chief architect Kristiaan Borret from Brussels, Belgium, introduced the process of integrating the urban and industry via urban planning. Hwang Doojin (principal, doojin hwang architects) elaborated on the architectural production process of integrating…

For two days from Dec. 1, a contactless international conference on ‘Heritage and the Metropolis’ was held jointly by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the United Nations-Habitat. More than 30 urban and heritage experts from 15 countries participated in this conference. The conference introduced global case studies in Sessions 1 and 2, discussed four sub-themes (territory and space, heritage, governance, and networks) in Session 3, and dealt with future challenges in Session 4. In most discussions, prominent researchers agreed that defining ›heritage' and the ›metropolitan' had become increasingly difficult. The definition of heritage and a metropolis relates to identity, which is composed of global, multinational ethnicities due to the nature of the metropolis. Daniel Athias de Almeida (professor, Anhanguera University) noted that preserving our more intangible heritage has become particularly…

SPACE: ST International HQ and SONGEUN Art Space (hereinafter SONGEUN) is the first project realized by Herzog & de Meuron in Korea. Compared to the museums that in some cases have come to represent a city such as Tate Modern, SONGEUN belongs to the smaller scale examples. Is there anything special one must consider when designing small-scale buildings? Pierre de Meuron (de Meuron): Small can be not only beautiful but also can have a great energy. The context is also very important in its situation in Seoul, and SONGEUN has a very high concentration and density of energy within a small space. We hope this will be a building that will stand for many generations. In our experience working on museum projects over recent years, many curators and directors like…

This is a battlefield for turf battles. It bears the traces of Andong Byeolgung, school buildings, fences and yards, birdhouses and entrances, ginkgo trees, and even a place for crafts and artifacts. It is balanced on the blades. The walls and gates that surrounded the school were dismantled, the school was turned into a museum, and the building was transformed to accommodate new uses. From the royal family to students, it has now become a place for the citizens. It has been turned into a place for everyone. With different hats, the viewpoint changes accordingly. The Seoul Museum of Craft Art was created ‘to connect the past, present, and future of crafts’ and signals that no parking facilities were built ‘to protect underground historical relics’. What did architecture do in…

Gesellschaft I had such a profoundly memorable experience at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. From the bottom of the Rotunda, I could see people moving up and down in this springlike space. Without this definitive shape, I would only be able to picture the space through the traces of visitors’ movements. I tried to expand this idea to the context of a three-dimensional city like Manhattan. The movement of its many individuals generates architecture. I am interested in how people gather, divide, and intermingle within a building. Groups of buildings create boundaries within urban space. Typically, we stride freely through urban space but hesitate over entering an unfamiliar building. Contrary to the laws of physics, which lead to a mixed state, people living in the buildings of a use-oriented…

On the 11th of November, 2021, the international contemporary visual art museum M+ opened in Hong Kong. It took fifteen years for this project to be realised since the establishment of museum was confirmed in 2006. What does this contemporary museum look like, a project in which numerous parties have engaged over many years? And what topography of display will be drawn in the future? Let’s consider the processes behind establishing an art museum as an institution and building a distinctive physical space through two interviews with Doryun Chong (deputy director, M+) and Wim Walschap (partner, Herzog & de Meuron). The Operation and Direction of M+: More than Museum Choi Eunwha (Choi): M+ is the first global museum in Asia to address ‘contemporary visual culture’. What is the role and…