<Rebirth of Place: Expansion
& Conflict of the Korean Modern Architecture> is an exhibition that
critically examines contemporary Korean modern architecture in light of
"time and events." Historically, the narrative structure of modernism
has experienced ongoing conflict between Korea's unique driving force and its
existing values. The fate of Korean architecture amid the rapid upheaval of
modernization was frequently determined by political and economic judgments. To
the modern sensibility, architecture can sometimes seem to refer to objects
forgotten. What is the building newly rebirth along with us in this era? What
modern buildings, if any, resonate with today’s society? What values have survived within that architecture?
Moreover, what social consensus do such values reflect? The exhibition starts
from these questions.
Co-hosted by the National Museum of
Modern and Contemporary Art and DOCOMOMO Korea, this exhibition originates from
the theme 'Expansion & Conflict' adopted from the ‘13th DOCOMOMO International Conference Seoul 2014,’ held for the first time in Asia. The discussions created through
the conference’s focus on the development process and
significance of modernism in the West and Asia will contribute to the discourse
on Asian modernism. This exhibition focuses on the sustainability of modern
architecture under a main theme of 'Expansion & Conflict.' Unlike the
countless attempts of the past to explain modern architecture with a
chronological and diachronic structure, this exhibition aims to capture the
mobility of conflict and expansion through time and events embraced by each
case of modern architecture. Accordingly, the modernism within modern
architecture is not something to be explained, but rather it is an object of
interpretation that awakens identical memory.
The works displayed in this
exhibition are limited to Seoul and the metropolitan area. The exhibition does
not seek to provide answers to the questions posed by modern architecture. The
important thing is to engage in discussion and examine what buildings connect
the past to the present in the course of such dramatic changes to Seoul, a
place defined by upheaval, modernity and tradition. Moreover, by describing the
values that have won the most respect, this exhibition aims to show the changes
in the perspectives shown toward modern architecture, as well as cast light on
the present state of modern architecture.
Pondering over the aforementioned
ideas, This exhibition consists of the following sub-themes: 'Representation of
Landscape’, ‘Recalling the Subject’ and ‘Transfer of Power’. These are the values
that secure the sustainability of modern architecture. The values revealed here
are flexibly intertwined with one another and thus cannot be clearly
distinguished. However, this exhibition aims to focus on the things that look
most clear and the parts that have survived. This exhibition aims to give voice
to the stories that have won respect in the transformation process of each
building, according to historical time and contemporary events. Through these
fragmentary attempts, viewers can begin to piece together the social consensus
through which we see modern architecture. In the course of engaging in this
exhibition, new discourse can emerge in the discussions surrounding the
long-term viability of modern architecture. This exhibition seeks out the perennial
amid the temporal and aims to establish a stable definition of modernity amid
times of upheaval and drastic change, both within architecture and Society.
Forgotten
Memories
The number of big cities in Asia
expanded rapidly throughout the 20th century. Contemporary Korea has arrived at
the present through a tumultuous history from the opening of Korea, the
Japanese colonial period, division, war and military dictatorship. Like a
rapidly moving silent film, Korea has changed at a very fast pace so it is
difficult to remember all that has taken place. As the times changes, so too
modern buildings emerged only to disappear again once discarded. Some
disappeared because they could no longer fulfill their functions, while others
were weeded out by force due to criticism regarding the foulness of their
creation. The tempestuous reality of the past ushered in the buildings that we
now see today and reminds us of the historical landscape and of place that have
embraced personal as well as public events. Such buildings can sometimes be a
symbol of progress that shows a new architectural style, until the moment they
become extinct. This section includes stories about architecture and its
occasional extinction into the mists of time. The disappeared buildings make us
question the borders between the conservation and extinction of modern
architecture, and the values that determine such boundaries.
Representation
of Landscape
Urban streetscape is the most
important element in determining the image of a city. If we understand
modernity as the spirit of 'novelty', we will find such spirit in the dignified
buildings that are built in various places around the city. The Western-style
buildings introduced during the Japanese colonial period have gradually secured
their place in the consciousness of contemporary citizens, although they
clashed with traditional Korean buildings. The modern urban landscape was a new
world, an object of tourism, and a wonder in itself. The landscape that existed
beyond generations was reorganized by the development and commercialization
that followed the expansion of urban areas. Many buildings in the city were
swept away in the whirlwind of development, but there are some that still
maintain the landscape of the past, having weathered countless storms. The
physically reproduced landscape of the past arouses nostalgia for the
collective memory of Korean citizens. The facades that form the urban
streetscape are the architectural elements that are most familiar in public
memory, being at the top of the list of objects that must be preserved. There
are also attempts to reproduce the cultural landscape by trying to recover the
functions that modern architecture had at the time, beyond mere physical
reproduction. Contemporary civic society is engaged in the act of trying to
protect the 'visage' of modern architecture, which is most clear and simple, as
we try to recover and sustain the events and times of the past.
Recalling
the Subject
Modernity is the time when people
seek novelty, and when individual Subjectivity and autonomy begin to arise. The
society was overflowing with the awareness that the main agents who create such
novelty are individuals in each field, and architecture is no exception. There
were architects who were about to come into bloom on the land of Korean
architecture that had been barren due to invasion and war. With a pioneering
attitude, they strived to establish our own unique progressive buildings that
are not like those of Japan or the West, pondering over the future of our
architecture. However, history failed to properly maintain their efforts, and
we, in the present age, have not tried to look into them. Even the traces of
the architects that are imprinted on our minds as masters - only a few still
remain - re in danger of becoming extinct.
This section will examine the names
of architects that had been hidden along with the extinction of modern
architecture as well as their works that have been revived. We can also find
out through the works of architects that are in existence, who discovered and
summoned the forgotten the subject, that "architects are some of the most
important agents who give value to modern cultural heritage". We will look
back on the value of modern architecture by examining cases in which buildings
of the past that were left unused gained a new name as well as new life with
the hand of the architects in this era.
Transfer
of Power
Ultimately Buildings purpose to be
shelter human beings from nature. However, buildings with a collective memory
were, until the early modern period, mostly used as tools to sustain the ruling
power, whether it is the royal family, governing political power or the power
of religions leaders. In modern Korean history, however, architecture began to
express the new spirit of the times. True, those who ordered the modern
buildings remained royalty. Likewise, the power of the building’s role, history and place was later inherited by the new
commercialist group that accepted the new culture and the ruling class as well
as all the de facto political power that went with them.
Some buildings created as
supporting tools for the ruling power are now open to the public with a long
history of their own to tell. Yet, they have expanded their physical territory
to their surroundings, rather than merely remaining as preserved buildings in
the past. Since these buildings were established to sustain or support power
groups, they are located in the best areas of central axis in previous urban
centers or important ports that are the front line of the territory that
accepted the new culture. These inherent benefits lead to the act of regaining
the urban center as the concealed spaces of power in the city become
transformed into open spaces for the public.
Much time has passed between the
return to the public of these modern buildings, which once represented the
spaces of power within the city. This transformation is thanks to the
unstinting efforts by the public - and particularly social activists and
architects - to give the right names to such places.
Future
to be Continued
Modernity expressed in architecture
is embraced by the aesthetic and technological advancement as well as the
spirit of the times (zeitgeist) that bring it out. This stripped away the
patterns of the previous times and was expressed in the 'pure form of language'
of buildings. As such spirit was transplanted into architecture, belief in
modernity was further expanded, producing collective isms and ideologies once
again and categorizing architecture as a production tool. Modernists in the
late 1960s criticized such irrationality. However, the pursuit of values in
architecture in the aesthetic and technological aspects, which reflect the
spirit of the times, ultimately remains as the matrix of contemporary
architecture.
By 1960s, mega structures, which
are lumps of gray concrete that break down the traditional city fabric, made
their appearance at the heart of Seoul. The first multipurpose building, Seun
Sangga (Arcade), implemented to reorganize the city according to the logic of
slum redevelopment project in the modernization process. This place is still in
controversy over whether to sustain or demolish it, but it is a repository of
solutions for countless issues that occur in the urban development process.
There are also other buildings that display the beauty and elegance as well as
technological innovation of modern buildings. Samil Building, which was the
highest building of the times, reminds one of the Seagram Building built by
Mies van der Rohe that represents modern architecture. There is also St. Mary's
Hospital finished with aluminum curtain walls.
These buildings have held their
positions in our memories as the landmarks of the city for a long time.
Moreover, Korea's leading architects Kim Swoo-geun, Kim Chung-up and Kim
Jong-soo have surfaced along with the emergence of these buildings that share
the typical features of modernist architecture. We have truly entered the era
of aesthetic pursuit, technological innovation and masters of architecture that
reflects the spirit of the times. These three buildings are in existence as the
genes of Korean contemporary architecture that were built afterwards. Such
values in these buildings will be effective not only in the present but also in
the future of Korean architecture, which is valid for the rebirth of Korean
modern architecture.
