52 Quintessential Modern Korean Designs Chosen
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
The Korea Design Foundation has selected tin delivery containers, palace-shaped wedding halls and ``Red Devil'' T-shirts among 52 ``quintessentially Korean'' designs from the past half-century.
The foundation, an organization within the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced the list Tuesday for the purpose of exploring and promoting Korea's design heritage. Selection standards were based on the items' influence on everyday Korean life and embodiment of the Korean spirit, rather than aesthetics or design value.
Professors including Kang Hyeon-joo (Inha University), Kim Myung-hwan (Kaywon School of Art & Design) and Oh Chang-seop (Konkuk University) selected the 52 finalists from some 200 items submitted by design specialists.
The ``cheolgabang,'' or tin delivery container widely used for delivering local Chinese cuisine, has no known inventor, but is deemed a ``perfect design,'' even from a cultural anthropological standpoint. Wedding plazas mimicking Western castles that dot the country are rooted in a fascination of the West, while omnipresent garden-style ``galbi'' (Korean barbecue) restaurants reflect the rise of the middle class.
Also included on the list are specific products such as Hodori, the 1988 Seoul Olympics mascot; animation characters Pororo and Dooly; electronics such as the iRiver MP3 player, LG Chocolate phone and Cucu rice cooker; and Bingrae's banana-flavored milk, as well as architectural structures such as the Olympic Stadium and Tower Palace apartment buildings.
Even commercial items were selected for their cultural significance, and the reason for choosing Dooly was that the baby dinosaur and its cartoon friends resemble the typical Korean next door, and it would be difficult to doubt their ``nationality.''
Judges also selected things that mark quotidian Korean life including ``samgyeopsal hoesik'' or dinner with co-workers over boned rib pork barbecue, Monami's 153 ball point pen, Shin ``ramyeon'' (instant noodles), Chilsung Cider, terry towels dubbed ``Italy towel'' and the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin in Gwanghwamun. Also included were many ``firsts,'' such as the Seun Shopping Center in Jongno, the first of its kind Seoul, and the first Korean cabs known as ``sibal taxi.''
The list also includes retailer E-Mart which changed consumption patterns here; the bright red ``Be the Reds!'' T-shirt, of which over 20 million were sold during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup; and Korean metallic spoons that are thinner than those made in China and Japan.
The foundation plans to compile a list of such Korean designs each year, and collect and exhibit the chosen items overseas beginning this year. ``Considering its emphasis on socio-cultural significance and common usage, the list is bound to be skewed by the subjective views of the judges,'' said the foundation. ``However, collecting such lists over the years to come will be beneficial in studying the nature of Korean design and promoting it overseas.''
The 52 items selected this year also includes the Cheonggye Stream, a portrait of the late protester Lee Han-yeol, ``cheonjiin'' or the ``hangeul'' (Korean alphabet) system used in cellular phones, ``dolchimdae'' or masonry mattresses, Dimchae kimchi refrigerator, Keum-Sung black and white television, Hansem's system kitchen, Gyeongbu Highway and OB Beer, among others.