Condencity_38 urban rebirth

Rebirth is metaphor for many things in life. The city of Seoul is itself being constantly reborn as old now becomes available and accessible. KIMUSA, today dressed in pink, is undergoing a radical shift, from secret military defense post to the future home of Seoul's new museum of contemporary art. This transformative rebirth began a couple of months back as temporary installations began to initiate the urban site as public and cultural ground. Secrets rarely last forever and KIMUSA is an urban testament to that.

The redevelopment and gathering of ideas for the site began in November with the start of an international design ideas competition for the new museum. Perhaps there is no more significant a place in Seoul as this site situated between the two main historic palaces and one of the last remaining historic residential quarters in the city. It is positioned at a crossroads of progressive culture and deeply rooted history.

City and life moving forward.

berkeley_99

remember
berkeley after dark 
paths cross
east to west
night cool under eucalyptus
walking, pausing


and at that moment i knew
i loved you


remember?

Formless city_ formless seoul

Yesterday I gave a talk at KAADF here in Seoul. It is an organization which meets regularly to discuss the architectural design academic 'climate' here in Seoul and around Korea. I spoke on my past experiences as a student and professional. What I failed to discuss in my very brief introduction has been at the forefront of my mind  these days, particularly with Seoul as backdrop for life. Its latent ideas were part of my talk yesterday, however never surfaced in my words with clarity.  

To quote Italian urban theorist Tafuri.. in the city "it is the struggle for organization against the will of formlessness".. perhaps this can be no more evident than in a city such as Seoul.  I can't help but think here that the future of modernism lies more in our ability to synthesize mass amounts of history and information; repositioning what are arguably environmental 'fragments' in less form dependant ways. We should be critically considering an 'invisible architecture', one that is absorbed by function and processess of the city at large.