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.

Condencity_37 city revealed

More than 2 million trips are made daily on the Seoul Metro. The Metro system is comprised of 9 main lines that reach the farthest corners of the Seoul Metroplitan area. It is one of the most efficient and extensive subway systems in the world. Over 70% of the subway lies underground and only moments of above ground visibility bear rider witness to the cityscape.

I spend my Tuesday's circling Seoul on the 'inner-cirle line'. Stretching for more than 60kms this trip in three segments takes nearly 2 hours. Raised track platforms reveal the city in small fragments. The visibility is but momentary as trains dive quick to metric depths below ground. I view the city in small glimpses and when submerged imagine the city above; keeping time with the speed of train below. 

  

Seoul Today: momentarily

My obsession is the city
absorbed by its folds and corners
hidden
Momentarily you are there
time may erase
but your image
is forever
on my mind

Condencity_34 reclaimed city

For much of the past century there are historically significant locations in Seoul that have remained in isolation from Seoul residents. A number of these places have been associated with political and military activity of foreign occupation and interest. Over the past five years significant political shifts, and some such urban sites, as this one in Samchungdong shown from above, (previously occupied by Japanese and US governments) have once again been returned to the city (at least in theory). While this location in particular remains concealed and impenetrable by a 3 meter perimeter stone wall, its redevelopment will soon introduce this 3.5 hectare area back into the complex fabric of Seoul after decades of isolation.

Condencity_33 dwelling

I am currently buried in housing as project typology both academically and professionally. It is a topic pressing on many levels here in South Korea given physical conditions and ongoing debate. The cityscape in Seoul has been transformed by housing over the last 40 years. Dominant apartment blocks and developments stand uncontested. Comparable to the sprawling American suburb (the Korean apartment development is arguably a vertical 'suburb').

Today, strict laws and codes govern such developments in a manner that leaves little room for deviation. What results are homogeneous tower clusters primarily driven by economic speculation. Regulations are currently being challenged and the continued evolution of dwelling in Korea will certainly bring about another shift in residential life here.

Earth work memorial

Autumn is about memory here. The rural landscape in Korea is reminder of generations past and it is during this time, earth-forms [burial grounds] appear pronounced in the mountainous countryside terrain. At the annual harvest moon, families pay respect to ancestral sites overlooking vast valleys of rice fields and beyond. Like faces from the past these sculpted forms look onward, forever burned in memory.

Condencity_32 Seoul Transformations

Image courtesy Seoul Government archives

To be once again living in a city with seasons brings to mind transformations on many levels. Autumn is quickly approaching here in Seoul and with this comes cooling temperatures, clearing blue skies free of haze and moisture and the shedding of summer vegetative growth. This was a summer of reintroduction for me (and certainly autumn will be as well). The transformative reality of life here in Seoul.

Over the past 40 years the shift and growth of populations has changed the face of the city. Residential areas, once dense horizontal clusters of urban 'Hanok's' have been selectively removed and demolished in areas of the city. Districts of housing considered Seoul's new 'suburbs' were home to many middle class families of the 1960's. The acceptance of speculative apartment developments has erased a number of these communities around the city leaving behind decaying pockets of this once common urban housing type.

The image above from 1966 in Dongamdong district in Seoul is fresh reminder of a past era of neighborhood life. Like many places similar, no longer in existence, the face of this city appears to change as quickly as the sifting of annual seasons.

1930's Seoul_ projecting forward

The Hankok is a centuries old tradition of residential typology here in Korea. It's urban form in Seoul proliferated the city beginning in the early 20th century. It evolved from it's rural roots, providing a kind of suburban neighborhood to Seoulites until the multi-story apartment began to appear in the early 1960's. As a sustainable residential type it has evolved today  as primarily an aesthetic and social icon, disappearing as a once functional neighborhood unit. 

Today, while several districts of the Hanok remain, the transformation of social and physical realities are starkly real and these once vibrant places stand as quiet glimpses of the past. Dwellings are rapidly converted to commercial interest and the remaining residences stand empty as owners choose to live elsewhere with modern comforts and conveniences. Economics have further eroded communities and populations have sold in interest of profits or have been forced to leave due to rising values. What remains is a kind of frozen urban museum; raising questions of the future of a regionally timeless way of building.