[INTERVIEW] Korean Pavilion asks '2086: Together How?' at Venice Architecture Biennale

Installation view of the "2086: Together How?" exhibition, commissioned by Arts Council Korea (ARKO), at the Korean Pavilion at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy / Courtesy of ARKO

By Park Han-sol

VENICE, Italy ― What does the seemingly arbitrary number 2086 mean for humanity?

According to the 2022 World Population Prospects report released by the United Nations, it is the year that is projected to be a watershed moment as the global population peaks at just over 10.4 billion people.

But to the Korean Pavilion at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, it does not just end there.

Jung So-ik, co-artistic director of "2086: Together How?" / Courtesy of Team Off to Venice

"By the time the world population reaches its peak, so will all the environmental and socio-economic crises we are currently experiencing ― climate change, mass migration and rural depopulation," said co-artistic director Jung So-ik, who organized this year's exhibition at the pavilion with Park Kyong, a day before the Biennale's pre-opening last week.

With such a pivotal and yet unpredictable future in mind, "2086: Together How?," commissioned by Arts Council Korea (ARKO), is all about posing the following question ― how should we, humankind, reassess our centuries of obsession with progress and indiscriminate material growth in the face of the "climate endgame" to explore a new paradigm of living?

Rather than responding to the question with definite answers and solutions, the show brings to light the three specific regions in Korea ― both in their present-day forms and potential future scenarios in 2086 ― through collaborative projects led by architects and local community activists.

Park Kyong, co-artistic director of "2086: Together How?" / Courtesy of Team Off to Venice

All three sites, which vary in size, demographics and cultural history, embody a diverse range of issues faced by the cities today.

Incheon, the third-largest city in Korea with a population of 3 million, has long been the battleground between extensive urban redevelopment projects and community groups in fierce protest against them.

Through a panoramic installation, "Ruin as Future, Future as Ruin," architecture studio Urban Terrains Lab and activist group Space Beam spotlight the community of Baedari in East Incheon as a case in point, where the residents have been making all-out efforts to put the brakes on the construction of a highway that would break the historic neighborhood in half.

Gunsan in North Jeolla Province, with a current population of 260,000, represents one of many rapidly shrinking midsize cities in the country. "Despite the fact that the town itself has become a rising tourist destination, the number of its residents is continually declining," Jung said. "And it is witnessing more and more houses being emptied every day."

For "Destructive Creation," Society of Architecture and local community group Udangtangtang launched guerrilla-style D.I.T. (Do It Together) workshops to dismantle an abandoned house in the city and transform the man-made object into a structure harmoniously mingling with the surrounding nature and native wildlife.

On view at the pavilion are the actual wooden vestiges of the demolished house from Gunsan as well as the non-powered tools invented for the workshop that could be used even with limited access to electricity.

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Visitors to the Korean Pavilion look at a set of non-powered tools on view at the show's "Destructive Creation" section that focuses on the shrinking city of Gunsan in North Jeolla Province at the pre-opening of the Venice Architecture Biennale, May 18. Courtesy of Team Off to Venice

The rural villages dotting Gyeonggi Province are another site of critical investigation at the show. Although the province itself, the massive area surrounding Seoul, boasts a growing population nearing 14 million in total, there are plenty of villages within it that remain "marginalized and invisible," according to Jung and Park.

Many house communities of migrant workers, "marriage migrants" and the native elderly population, who are contributing to the changing socio-cultural landscapes of the previously homogenous region. These areas have become the center of focus in New York-based architecture studio NHDM's "Migrating Futures" and Korean artist Kim Wol-sik's "A Community of Difference."

Although all three projects start by examining regional case studies in Korea, the looming crisis the cities in question face ― migration, depopulation and the conflict of interest between capitalist development and environmental conservation ― is universally shared, the two artistic directors noted.

"The problem is not just in Korea or in England or in Italy," Park said. "In fact, an advanced economy brings new types of problems and social inequality within … and Korea is dealing with these global issues."

Visitors take part in the interactive quiz show-like section, "The Game of Together How," at the pre-opening of the Venice Architecture Biennale, May 18. Courtesy of Team Off to Venice

After learning of these sites' present-day situations and the imagined scenarios that may become their future, viewers are then invited to take part in the interactive quiz show-like section, "The Game of Together How."

The electronic screen flashes 14 multiple-choice questions that ask the participants to choose their desired actions in present and future ecocultural settings.

Such an emphasis on the individual act of making choices forms the central message of the show, the artistic directors say, for the current global environmental and social challenges are the byproducts of humanity's past decisions.

Throughout the entire exhibition period, the game will keep score of all the viewers' decisions and translate them into quantifiable ecological data ― temperature, sea level, degree of income inequality, number of refugees and carbon footprint ― that will be accessible both on-site and online.

"These data are designed to visibly represent how the collective beliefs held by the participants will affect our future," Jung said. "We are curious to see what the final results will be like."

Visitors attend the opening ceremony of the Korean Pavilion's "2086: Together How?," May 18. Courtesy of Team Off to Venice

Like every iteration, this year's Venice Biennale is twofold: the flagship International Architecture Exhibition, curated by Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko under the theme, "The Laboratory of the Future," and 63 national pavilion shows organized by the respective home countries.

When asked how the Korean Pavilion's "2086: Together How?" can be in dialogue with the central exhibition ― which largely turns its focus on Africa, the youngest and the fastest-urbanizing continent in the world ― Park said that Korea's modern history marked by colonialism and rapid economic growth at the expense of the local environment can perhaps serve as a useful warning for the continent.

"Once the victim of colonization, Korea has undergone tremendous progress and modernization. So in a way, it can convey some level of hope for developing nations. But at the same time, the country is now experiencing a new set of problems ― climate crisis, falling birth rate, etc.," he said. "So, Korea is not just a possible model for development, but more importantly, a warning of what is to come."

"2086: Together How?" runs through Nov. 26 as part of the 18th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale.