Seoul is in a hurry, but why?

By Steve Allard

I recently moved to a new apartment near Nokbeon Station west of Seoul's city center. While waiting at the traffic light, I noticed some rather ill-fitting solar panels had been installed to the top of the newly installed bus shelter.

I exclaimed to my wife, ``This is how ``ppali ppali” culture takes something innovative and beautiful (the bus shelter) and clutters the environment with more objects that suffocate all the pleasant visually pleasing energy found in the neighborhood."

Now don't get me wrong, I am a big proponent of Seoul's urban beautification projects and praise the Seoul Metropolitan Government for its efforts to modernize and improve the neighborhoods of Seoul.

However, ppali ppalii is to blame for many of Seoul's eye sores. Ppali ppali is the uniquely Korean cultural aspect of ``hurry hurry." Get it there fast or get it finished quickly!

This phenomenon is best exemplified by all of the daredevil scooter drivers who scurry about Seoul's dense commuter traffic delivering everything from kimchi jjigae to area rugs.

If they get it there ahead of schedule, then they are doing what they think is a good job; (I am sure the emergency rooms of Seoul's hospitals would disagree entirely). Ppali ppali extends to other visible areas in Seoul, too. It can also been seen in many of the construction projects, during as well as after they are completed.

If a business submits a contract proposal in Seoul and there is not any ppali ppali built into the proposal, the firm is sure to miss out on landing the business. By promising to finish the project on time or even ahead of schedule, it looks good and shows the right attitude in the eyes of the hiring firm who will subcontract out most design, engineering and construction projects. I've seen this ``over- promise and cut corners to finish" business acumen time and time again while working as a product design consultant here in Korea.

I've recently completed spring semester at a university where I teach product design courses to undergraduate students in Seoul. Some of the student projects last semester included advanced bus shelter designs. If the students I teach can integrate by default solar technology aesthetically into their designs for future bus shelters on the streets of Seoul, why cannot the division of traffic and its consultants come up with a design that integrates current solar technologies that function well and look attractive into the design of the bus shelter?

The short answer is ppali ppali. This is one of the dark realities of the design profession and ppali ppali is guilty of accelerating the completion of a project to please the parties involved at the expense of high quality world class design and architectural standards.

If the recent high speed rail crash in eastern China, and the mudslide property damage in Seocho District is of any consolation in learning that by pushing infrastructure projects through to their early completion means eventual disaster, then we must learn from these cautionary tales that ppali ppali, if not kept in check, can indeed cause a prosperous society to derail, literally.

Ppali ppali is to blame for not paying attention to detail and cutting corners to get the job done ahead of schedule. Ppali ppali is to blame for the visual clutter that decorates many of Seoul's neighborhoods and it is the reason good design becomes flawed when implemented in haste and not carefully executed to the specifications of the designer or architect.

The author is an American expatriate industrial designer and educator. He has been consulting and teaching product design in Seoul since 2007. He can be reached by email at designsymbiosis@hotmail.com.