Using design to vitalize K-towns

The Gwangju Theater’s building in Gwangju, southwest of Seoul, has been designated as one of the six venues due to receive central and local government support to “re-innovate” old edifices into a more culturally-engaging venues for the region’s residents. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been carrying out such project since 2011. / Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

By Kim Ji-soo

As Korea growingly becomes a destination for hallyu fans and other tourists, there is movement to use design to re-innovate the dilapidated edifices and revitalize communities.

Despite some controversy, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) that was designed by Zaha Hadid opened in March and added a new dimension to the Seoul landscape. Known as the DDP, the plaza combines fashion design centers, show rooms, galleries, conference facilities and shops in the heart of the district.

While not on a scale like the DDP, the government has been pursuing projects to imbue new designs and cultural uses at now idle temporary train stations, suburban bus terminals and other dormant spaces.

The cultural design projects, launched in 2011 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, concentrate on near-obsolete venues and transformed them into cultural venues for residents.

“Transforming the dilapidated train station as a cultural function has been popular with the residents, so we have extended that to include the bus terminals this year,” said Heo Beom-mu, a ministry official.

“The cultural design project is an ‘re-innovation’ project that will show a distinctive Korean regionality,” said Jo Kwang-ho, a researcher at the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute and a member of advisers for the project.

“This year’s selectees have been diversified to reflect how diverse cultural values can be portrayed through design,” he said.

The Jeongseon Bus Terminal in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, is no longer in use, but it will be turned into a cultural venue for residents.

This year, the ministry has decided on six venues throughout the country. They include the Mongtan temporary station in Muan, South Jeolla Province, and the two bus terminals — the Jeongseon Outer-City Bus Terminal in Gangwon Province, and the Hwanggan Bus terminal in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province. Also on the list are three idle spaces — the Fishing Village’s Freezer Tank in Chujado, Jeju Island, the Women’s Association building in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, and the Gwangju Theater’s building in Gwangju.

“The Mongtan Station was a channel for people who lived in the region, dating back to the Goryeo Kingdom. It shows the history of the community and the lives of its people. The Jeongseon Bus Terminal can be conduit to tell the story of how a small village embraces culture and arts to re-imbue a region’s values. Also Jeongseon is where the Jeongseon Arirang hails from,” Jo said.

“Arirang,” a traditional Korean folk song that was added to UNESCO‘s intangible cultural heritage list in 2012, has variations throughout different regions in Korea.

While there is only one temporary train station this year, the flag-stop stations were the focus of these projects in 2011, 2012 and 2013, as trains in Korea slowly gave away to bullet-train KTX services. The ministry’s project does not include Seoul City, which works with a design foundation to reformat idle facilities into cultural spaces. One example is the former Seoul Station, which halted train services to give way to KTX in 2004 and reopened as a cultural space called “Culture Station Seoul 284” In 2011.

Professor Seo U-seok of Urban Sociology at the University of Seoul said that it’s natural as societies enter their post-industrialization phase that more idle facilities will emerge.

“The primary idea with these projects is to retain the community’s identity and history while at the same time giving the residents a cultural program. Then, when the communities and these renovated venues gain recognition, tourists will naturally follow,” said Seo.

Another recipient selected for example, the Gwangju Theater’s building, has significance because the theater still uses a handwritten billboard to announce what’s showing in the multiplex era, the ministry official said.

The ministry said that these projects will involve more than just revamping existing structures. Under the plan, these selected venues will undergo design reformation, so that the respective region’s cultural identity can also be reflected to combine culture and design that will engage participation from the region’s residents.

The project entails 100 million won in funds from the central government and another 100 million won from the local governments.

Integrating more culture where it will flourish in Koreans’ lives is one of President Park Geun-hye administration’s core policies, along with reviving the economy and bringing happiness. The plan envisions increasing the money spent on culture by 2017 so that more Koreans can engage in culture on a daily basis.

Also, as Korea looks to diversify the content for hallyu and shift away from the dominant focus on K-pop, K-drama and games, there is attention shifting to thee design sector including fashion and architecture.