exhibitions

Autopsy of the Future: Yeouido 2068

미래의부검: 여의도 2068

The installation, Autopsy of the Future: Yeouido 1968-2018, lays bare a collection of forgotten stories—probable yet fanciful, real yet fictitious, and familiar yet foreign—of various actors and players, both central and marginal, whose lives were intertwined through a grand experiment on Yeouido. Fifty years since its creation, Yeouido still retains its mythical status within Korea’s popular imagination today. It is more often a metaphor than a place, or simply just a unit of measurement for large tracts of land. Millions of people have gathered on its asphalt plaza to play, pray, sing, and protest, and millions come to watch the fireworks on its riverside park each autumn, or walk under the cherry blossoms in spring. It continues to be a probable utopia for Koreans, inspiring them to dream of a better future, and its fate as a prophetic urban concept is closely linked to the solidity of Korea’s state identity. Yeouido, as a collective social and aesthetic experiment, continues to motivate Korea’s architectural avant-gardes.

Dreaming of a utopian future was an antidote to despair for the young architects of KECC, and their ideas were ravenously consumed through official reports, state media, and trade expos. Seven young architects who worked on the Yeouido Master Plan were naïve and inexperienced, but smart, young and ambitious. Yoon Seung-joong, the 29-year old chief of the Urban Design Division, was a soft-spoken and mild-tempered leader—a comforting counterpoint to the wild and unpredictable Kim Swoo-geun, and his team produced a series of visions for their nation that defied reality. Their vision for Yeouido promised to adjust the discrepancy between people and place by leapfrogging onto a new island that offered leisurely strolls along lush parks and plazas, various museums and cultural institutions, and various modes of transport. In turn, their utopian vision provided an ideal state image that the Third Republic needed as propulsive propaganda for tightly binding its citizens to the cog wheel of economic expansion, luring them toward the mirage that continued to recede beyond the silvery horizon of Han River. 

기공의젊은건축가들에게유토피아적인미래를꿈꾸는것은절망적인현실에대응하는해독제의역할을했고, 그들의그림과글은보고서, 신문, 잡지, 그리고엑스포등을통해게걸스럽게소비되었다. 여의도종합개발계획에참여한도시계획부의건축가7명은젊고순진하며노련함이부족했으나총명하고야심에찬엘리트집단이었다. 그들의리더였던윤승중은29살의젊은건축가였지만조용하고차분한매너로그의후배들을이끌었고, 그들은함께밤을세우며현실을과감히거부하는, 이상적인미학을담은새로운국가의모습을그려나갔다. 그들이그린여의도의모습은역사적이상과환경적현실간의큰간격을단숨에뛰어넘을수있는가능성을제시했고그섬위에서공원과광장을거닐며미술관과박물관을즐기고여유롭게여가생활을향유하는가까운미래의환상을가능하게했다. 이를통해제3공화국의통치자들은시민들이현재의희생을통해미래의행복을현실화할것을강요했고, 신기루와같은미래의도시는5년마다가까워지는듯했으나영원히한강의은빛수평선건너편에서 아른거릴뿐이었다

A Genealogy of X

실종된 X를 찾습니다

A Lecture Performance in 3 Acts

한국건축속에출현하는보이드공간들의성격탐구를통해그출신, 계보, 유형을아우르는하나의가설을생성하고, 리서치과정과결과물을2막의연극과1회의강연으로전달하고자했다. 건축의청사진속에서보통‘X’로표기되는보이드공간은한국건축의핵심요소로서, 그유행의확실한시작점을밝힐수없고, 왜특히한국건축가들이보이드를좋아하는지쉽게설명할수없다. 대부분의경우는그들자신도어떤보이드를원하는지정확하게그릴수없다. 수학에서X가모르는어떤것을뜻한다면, 건축에서X는비움을의미하며, ‘잠시나타났다가영원히사라지는기호’와같다.  

X라는기호의의미를잊혀진추억, 숨겨진욕망, 그리고나눔의미학이라는틀안에서찾고자했다.  특정한의미의X를통해개인의추억과욕망이건축공간안에서표출될수있고, 반대로특정한건축공간안에서X의새로운의미가생성될수있다. 그의미가공간화되는유형을다음과같이분류해제시한다. 먼저한국건축에서가장흔히나타나는납작한보이드란바닥에뚫려바로아래층까지만열려있는얕은평면적보이드다. 납작한보이드는공간적이라기보다개념적이고, 볼륨을만드는것보다영역을나누는것을더중요시한다. 형태로읽힐수있는공간을만들지않기때문에납작한보이드를단면도에서는찾기힘들다. 반면세운보이드는평면이아닌단면이나입면에서표기되는보이드로도시의거리가건물내부로연장되는도시적보이드와3차원적공간을건물중심에품고있는깊숙한보이드두개의유형으로세분화될수있다. 마지막으로역사와기억속의사라짐과잊혀짐이공간화된숨은보이드와비운보이드는마주하는순간직감적인느낌을통해알아볼수있고, 막을수있지만채울수없는답답함이담겨있다.  

A theatrical sequence, composed of a series of architectural tropes, presents a fictional narrative based on a journalistic research on the identity, genealogy, and typology of voids within Korean architecture. The popularity of voids in Korean architecture cannot be traced back to a single source, nor can we identify its precise origin. In most cases, architects themselves are unable to elaborate on the precise form or shape of their voids. Whereas the X in mathematics stands for the unknown, the X in architectural plans stands for emptiness—an unoccupied space that is reserved for invisible spirits.  It is “a sign, alas, that would last an instant only to vanish for good.” 

X as a sign signifies three areas of emptiness: forgotten memories, hidden desires, and the aesthetics of sharing. Each of these meanings is spatialized in a particular type of void. The most common type of X found in Korean architecture is the flat void. Marked by a big X in floor plans, a flat void is a hole in the floor plate that seldom continues beyond the single level immediately below the hole. A flat void is more conceptual than spatial, in that the X denotes a territorial gap rather than a spatial volume. Whereas a flat void quickly vanishes in section, or only a faint suggestion of its apparition remains in thin lines, a raised void appears only on elevations and sections. A raised void is sometimes located adjacent to a public street, extending it into the building as an urban void. If the raised void is situated within the inner volume of a building, it is more three-dimensional and spatial, and may be called a deep void.  There are also invisible and symbolic voids, referring to spaces that remind us of forgotten or erased memories. These hidden voids can be found in unexpected places all over the city, and we recognize it when we see it. It may be described, but not defined; sensed but not seen; blocked but not filled. 

Brilliant Collaborators

함께 일하는 작가들 간의 작업영역에 대한 명확한 경계가 없을 때, 유동적인 사고와 견고한 감성이 뒷받침 된다면, 법규나 관례를 통해 인위적으로 정해진 직종간의 경계는 사라지고 단지 작품만이 남게 된다. 긍정적인 협업 체계 속에서는 서로가 함께 일하는 사람들의 잠재력을 극대화 한다. 때로는 디자인 팀의 일원으로, 때로는 외부컨설턴트로 각자에게 명칭을 붙이지만, 중요한 것은 서로의 감성과 의견이 프로젝트에 반영되는 것이다. 이 협업의 효과를 이해하는 작가들은 오랜 시간에 걸쳐 다른 전문가들과 협력관계를 이루고, 작업의 초기 단계부터 대화를 시작한다.뛰어난 작가는 다른 사람들과 함께 일하는 방법을 가장 잘 알고 있는 작가다. 함께 일하면서 서로의 감성을 인정하고 각 단계에 걸쳐 작은 가능성이라도 놓치지 않으려는 작가들일 수록 서로의 말에 귀를 기울인다. 

협업하는 자의 가치는 절제된 과묵함과 다른 사람의 생각을 먼저 듣고자 하는 겸손함이 있을 때 더 빛을 발하는 것 같다. 상대의 아이디어에 담겨있는 순수함을 건드리지 않을 수 있는, 손을 떼고 물러설 수 있는 용기가 있을 때 그의 말에 모든 사람들은 귀를 기울이고, 지극히 미세한 간섭을 통해 전체의 공간에 파장을 주는 작업이 가능하게 된다. 작업과정에서 그의 역할은 지극히 간접적이고 자기의 의견보다는 다른 사람의 생각을 먼저 존중하는 모습이지만, 결국 그의 감성과 철학이 모든 면에 스며들고, 확실하게 집어낼 수 없지만 부인할 수 없는 존재성을 작품 속에서 강하게 느끼게 된다. 그가 관련된 프로젝트마다 열매를 맺는 협력관계가 형성되고, 그가 포함되면 그 팀의 능력이 배가되는 것 같이 보인다. 흔히 지나치던 현상들에 모두가 집중하게 되고, 초기에는 불가능할 것이라던 생각들이 작업이 진행되면서 서서히 현실화 된다.

대부분 건축을 하는 사람들은 고집이 센 편이다. 양보하지 않고 자신의 비전을 끝까지 사수했던 과거의 유명한 건축가들에 대한 일화가 수 없이 많다. 하지만 점차적으로 건축이 조직화와 집단화 되어가고 있고, 한 개인이 일정 규모 이상의 건축물을 모두 디자인한다는 것이 불가능한 것을 모두가 잘 알고 있다. 그렇다면 한 작가가 프로젝트의 소유권을 갖기 위해 가장 중요한 것은 작업량이나 개인적 아이디어의 반영 비율이 아니라, 그가 전체적인 과정에 걸쳐 얼마나 큰 영감의 근원이 되었는가라고 하겠다. 

무위(無爲)를위한초대

기무사의철수가예상되는가운데, 과도한건축적제안들이최근건축매체들에넘쳐나고있다. 학생들의디자인컴페티션부터장기간의아카데믹리서치프로젝트까지, 이러한상당수의프로젝트들은건물을아주밀어버리고새로건설하는비전을제안하고있다. 대부분의이러한이미지들은괴물적으로크고새로운건물들이사이트내의모든가능한열린공간을차지하게끔제안되어있다. 결과적으로, 전반적인주변커뮤니티를압도하면서큰소리로스스로를주장하는기념비적인미술관을세우는계획은또한도시의풍경에영향을미치게된다. 

이장소는현재조용히줄지어선나무들과석조펜스뒤에가리워져있는데, 도시의맥락내에서오히려조신한여백을형성하고있다. 호화스런기념비처럼성급히모신큰국가기관은그주변을둘러싼독립적인예술적커뮤니티들에선(善)이되기보다는더큰해(害)가될것이다.   

여기제안된나무벤치는기무사의땅위에잘못도출된건설의시도들에대해평화적으로저항하는행위로써, 사람들에게나무아래에서할일없이기대어누울것을조장한다. 널찍한공간이용자들이마치‘평상’에앉듯기대누울수있는평평한플랫폼의형태를띠고있다. 

옛기무사자리에새로이접근할수있는열린공간으로전략적으로배치된나무벤치는당장의새로운미술관건설대신, 그공간의창조적인전유와점진적인쇄신을요구하는“나무에앉는사람들”의공동체-일시적이며비작동적이나비기념비적인자율적삶을공유하는자들의공동체-를제공하게될것이다.

<A Call for Inaction>, 2009

In anticipation of the withdrawal of DSC, a plethora of architectural proposals have flooded the recent architectural media. These projects, ranging from student design competitions to long-term academic research projects, offer a vast number of overblown constructive visions.  Most of these rendered images feature monstrously large new buildings to occupy all available open area within the site, frequently accompanied by floor area comparisons to other “world-class” art institutions. The resulting urban landscape is dominated by a new monumental museum, loudly asserting itself over the entire community. 

The site is currently veiled behind a quiet row of trees and stone fences, forming a rather unobtrusive void within the urban context. A large national institution, hastily enshrined within a pompous monument, will do more harm than good to the independent artistic community surrounding it.  

The proposed Tree Bench encourages people to recline idly under a tree, as an act of peaceful protest against misguided construction efforts envisioned on the grounds of DSC. Its generous radius forms a flat platform where users may recline, as they would on a pyongsang(a wide flat bench). 

Strategically positioned throughout the newly accessible open space on the grounds of the Old Defense Security Command (DSC), tree benches will accommodate a community- temporal and inoperative community, for people who share a vision of unmonumental autonomous life- of “tree sitters” calling for creative appropriation and gradual regeneration of the site, instead of immediate construction of a new museum.