Korea to showcase impact of urbanization on architecture at Venice Biennale

Park Seong-tae, artistic director of the Korean Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, speaks during a press conference at the Arko Art Center in central Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

In the 1960s, Korea underwent rapid growth and the city of Seoul expanded expeditiously as well. A group of architects and artists teamed up to showcase how the rapid development still influences Korean contemporary architecture at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, announced Wednesday.

Park Seong-tae, general secretary of Junglim Foundation, a cultural organization specializing in architecture and design, oversees the exhibit as artistic director along with three curators: Choon Choi, Park Jung-hyun and Chung Dah-young.

He said the exhibit centers around the legacy of the Korea Engineering Consultants Corporation (KECC), a state-run company that led the country's development and planning in the 1960s, where the nation's top architects worked. Kim Swoo-geun (1931-1986), one of the most famous modern Korean architects, was the second president of the KECC.

Despite major development plans by the KECC that shaped modern Korea, such as the Gyeongbu Expressway, Sewoon Shopping Center and Jungmun Tourism Complex on Jeju Island, the name KECC is now almost forgotten and its legacy is not properly archived.

Themed "Spectres of the State Avant-Garde," the Korean Pavilion will explore the overshadowing influence of the modern architectural projects.

"In the 1960s, national ideology and architects' visions co-existed in development plans. We interpreted that as the State Avant-Garde," Park Sung-tae said. "We do not just reminisce on the past, but try to seek the future through the contradiction and paradox inherent in the KECC's works."

The exhibit will consist of two archives featuring works of the KECC and seven new pieces inspired by KECC designs -- the Yeouido Master Plan, Sewoon Shopping Mall, the Korean Pavilion at Expo 1970 in Osaka and the first Korea Trade Fair in 1968.

Kim Sung-woo of N.E.E.D. Architecture, Jeon Jin-hong and Choi Yu-ni of BARE, Kang Hyun-seok and Kim Gun-ho of SGHS and curator Choi each designed new works based on the KECC projects.

The Korean Pavilion's exhibition reciprocates the 16th International Architecture Exhibition's general theme "Freespace," co-commissioned by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.

"We also invited artists from other genres such as novelist Jeong Ji-don and media artist Seo Hyun-suk to bridge the gap between 1960s and the present day as an attempt to find new freespace in Korea," Park Seong-tae said. "The KECC left the remnants of a utopian city and these artists searched for new possibilities of freespace in its legacy."

The 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale runs from May 26 to Nov. 25. Visit korean-pavilion.or.kr for more information.