Structures of Propaganda

Tis the season for propaganda. 

A large Christmas tree has been fashioned of lights, wrapping a communications tower bordering the DMZ in South Korea. The tower, standing 30 meters high, is supposedly viewable by villagers and military posts on the north side of the DMZ border.  It has been reported the 'tree'  alters perceptions of North Korean residents to recognize fallacies of the North Korean government, who for years have been telling its citizens that they are far better off than the people of South Korea. The bright light display of the tree is meant to challenge this idea amidst long periods of blackout and limited electricity availability in the North...so the story in the media goes or is it a Christian church thing? It certainly wouldn't be the first time for such propaganda.

condenCITY_56 city of refugee

Seoul has been a city of refugee for decades. It's massive growth through the mid-twentieth century was fueled by rural migrations and immigration from abroad. People seeking new opportunity and promotion flocked to the city. Today, Seoul faces a new population of refugees hoping to find political, idealogical and economic freedoms. Ironically, this marginalized population of defecting North Koreans, is given relatively little assistance when faced with issues of housing equality and option. 

This semester, graduate students at Konkuk University will be researching and designing 'transitional' refugee housing for North Korean defectors, to be sited in a quickly changing district within Seoul city boundaries.  A silenced topic (one rarely discussed amongst local design professionals and government collaboration) will be placed at the forefront of discourse with an end of the semester exhibition  of works to be held at Prugio Gallery in Seoul.