Korea: The Latest Architecture and News

The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) has reached two major milestones in its 12-acre cultural development, the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Jr. Athenaeum: the grand opening of the Crow Museum of Asian Art and the groundbreaking of a new performance hall and music building. Designed by architectural firm Morphosis, the Crow Museum of Asian Art serves as the centerpiece of the university's commitment to expanding its cultural offerings and engaging both the campus and the surrounding North Texas community. Alongside the museum's opening, UT Dallas also broke ground on a new performance hall and music building, set to be completed by fall 2026.

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Foster + Partners has debuted their first-ever exhibition in Korea at the Seoul Museum of Art. Marking a significant moment for the studio and its relationship to South Korea, the exhibition “Future Positive” showcases the work of Norman Foster and Foster + Partners to Korean audiences for the first time. On display from April 25th until July 21st, 2024, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the comprehensive showcase of Foster’s architectural journey from 1967 to the present day.

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After a year delay due to the worldwide pandemic, October 1st saw the inauguration of one of the most anticipated events of the year; the Expo 2020 in Dubai. The event, which is being held for the first time in the Middle East, focuses on architecture, culture, and innovation, with over 191 national participants. The pavilions on display are divided into three districts: Mobility, Sustainability, and Opportunity, each showcasing how their country has contributed and will contribute to its respective theme. In addition to the national pavilions, each district has its own thematic pavilion: the Sustainability Pavilion “Terra” by Grimshaw, the Mobility Pavilion “Alif” by Foster + Partners, and the Opportunity Pavilion “Mission Possible” by AGi Architects.

Read on to discover 6 must-see national pavilions of each district that explored their designated theme in a unique and captivating way. 

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This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights museum projects submitted by the ArchDaily community. Through examples from all around the world, the article explores how these spaces of knowledge and discovery are designed to inspire and inform.

Featuring a vertically developed art museum in Finland, a structure that merges with the landscape in China, or a maritime museum shaped by the conditions of the shoreline in Brazil, the round-up spans various kinds of museums and art spaces, as well as different attitudes towards the built or natural environment. The following projects reveal the ideas that shape museums in different contexts, illustrating diverse approaches towards what constitutes an institution of learning.

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Herzog & de Meuron’s first realized project in Korea is completed and is set to open to the public in September 2021. Situated in the heart of Cheongdam Dong, one of the most commercial areas of Seoul, the ST International HQ and SongEun Art Space will offer non-commercial art spaces, a variety of new exhibition spaces, and offices for ST International both above and below ground, creating an inviting space for the public to engage with contemporary art. The first inaugural exhibition is expected to be on the 28th of September, and will be curated by the Swiss architecture firm in collaboration with SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation.

Videos

Titled "Future School", the Korean Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale Di Venezia, transforms the structure into an explorative academic facility. Curated by Hae-Won Shin, the pavilion will be on display at the Giardini from May 22nd until November 21st, 2021.

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Seoul is considered one of the most densely-populated and over-priced cities in the world, reaching a staggering $ 80,000 per square meter. The extreme conditions of the city have forced local architects to operate, design, and build framing the city's urban issues, traditions, and history. This approach by architects has created the theoretical basis of “The Condition of Seoul Architecture”, a publication by multidisciplinary practice TCA Think Tank which sees the point of view of 18 innovative South Korean architects.

In this interview, Pier Alessio Rizzardi, founder of the practice, talked to Cho Byoung-soo of BCHO Architects, discussing traditional Korean Architecture, the struggles of the contemporary Identity, and his sensitive approach to materiality, nature and time.

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Seoul is considered one of the most densely-populated and over-priced cities in the world, reaching a staggering $ 80,000 per square meter. The extreme conditions of the city have forced local architects to operate, design, and build framing the city's urban issues, traditions, and history. This approach by architects has created the theoretical basis of "The Condition of Seoul Architecture", a publication by multidisciplinary practice TCA Think Tank exhibited in the last Seoul Biennale, which sees the point of view of 18 innovative South Korean architects.

In this interview, Pier Alessio Rizzardi, founder of the practice, interviewed Young Joon Kim of Yo2 Architects, City Architect of Seoul, professor at MIT and Seoul National University, and curator of the Seoul Biennale. The atelier focuses on the creation of new architectural solutions using an urbanistic approach to architecture based on the complexity of contemporary life in Seoul.

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Changtteul Church, is an old place of worship in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, that gets its name from the term "changtteul", meaning "a frame containing a window", in Korean. As its name suggests, the building's character lies in its series of windows, giving the visitors both outside and inside a unique experience of light and scenery.

Designers Hanyoung Jang and Hanjin Jang of studio minorormajor utilized the windows of Changtteul as a metaphorical motif for their design concept: the first being the 'window between man and God', and the second being ‘the window between man and nature’, immersing the abandoned religious facility with dramatic experiences.

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After carefully deliberating in their annual session, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee selected 19 new sites to inscribe on the World Heritage List in the city of Manama in Bahrain. Featuring 13 cultural sites such as Buddhist mountain monasteries in Korea, the industrial city of Ivrea in Italy, and the Caliphate city of Medina Azahara in Spain, alongside three natural sites and three mixed sites (classified as both cultural and natural heritage), the list now aggregates to 1092 sites in 167 countries.

From the historical Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul to the contemporary city of Brasilia orchestrated by Oscar Niemeyer, the World Heritage List has continuously exhibited varied examples of architecture and urban planning from different eras and movements from around the world. Amongst the new additions, there are several sites of religious importance, city organization, and natural conservation.

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Built before the 1988 Summer Olympics, the Seoul Olympic Stadium in the Korean capital city’s Songpa District remains an active and treasured institution. Designed by Kim Swoo-geun, the stadium represents a significant moment in Korea’s modern history and remains a venue for large concerts and the home of Seoul E-Land FC.

While the Olympic Stadium itself will stand visibly intact in its original form, this spring the Korea National Urban Planning Association staged a competition for a new design of the Jamsil Sports Complex, which includes several sporting venues and buildings adjacent to the stadium, as well as almost 160,000 square meters of total area. Following the deadline earlier this month, the jury has announced NOW Architects in collaboration with NBBJ and SAMOO, as the winners of the competition.

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The Fundació Mies van der Rohe has announced a list of 40 projects that will compete for the Young Talent Architecture Award 2018 (YTAA 2018). The award was established in 2016 to “support the talent of recently graduated Architects, Urban Planners and Landscape Architects who will be responsible for transforming our environment in the future,” and joins the Foundation's European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award “in promoting high-quality work amongst emerging and established architects through the acknowledgment of the value of good buildings.”

More than 330 projects were submitted from over 118 European, Chinese, and Korean architecture schools, which were narrowed down to a shortlist of 40 projects by an esteemed jury of architects and curators. The YTAA 2018 exhibition is a collateral event at the Venice Biennale, opening on May 24th at the Palazzo Mora, where 12 finalists will be announced. The names of the four winning schemes will become known on June 28th.

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