C3 no.403_19 #5/6
Abstinence vs. Excess in Korean Architecture
Abstinence vs. Excess _ Mannyoung Chung
C3’s special feature on the work of three contemporary Korean architects, Seung, H-Sang, Byoungsoo Cho, and Heesoo Kwak, each of which takes a distinctive direction, gives a bit unusual impression but also arouses intense curiosity. If the mixture of individualities is a characteristic of the contemporary world, this feature is reducing its arrangement to a similar subset.
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The three architects unexpectedly opened their offices at a similar age of about 37 years old (Seung, H-Sang in 1989, Byoungsoo Cho in 1994, and Heesoo Kwak in 2003). Shortly thereafter, through a fierce struggle for recognition, they created strong and distinctive identities for their architecture. The thoughts and aesthetics of this process are fully projected in the three works published in this issue, which in due course will broaden the horizon of discussion as to how their architectural language has expanded, and what can be evaluated at this point.
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Come Together
Come Together _ Herbert Wright
We need buildings that bring people together, because we are a social species. Communal constructions may even predate domestic architecture. Nowadays the typology of communal buildings and the approaches to their architecture are very diverse. Being rooted in a community gives architects good incentive to reflect the vernacular, but not all do.
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They are mainly sited in smaller communities, which most of humanity has been based until the historically-recent explosion of urbanisation. In this more conservative and timeless settlement environment, we nevertheless find that contemporary expression in architecture is alive and well.
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Village within a City
Village within a City: Civic Spaces, Civic Dimensions _ Gihan Karunaratne
According to a United Nations’ report, 50% of the world had become urbanized by 2005. Today, cities continue to transform at an ever-increasing rate, due to the migration of large, varied groups of people who hope to improve their futures through access to the benefits of urban life.
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There are various examples and architectural solutions in which new types of mixed-use, hybrid typologies, have been developed with the aim of encouraging distinct groups to meet and collaborate in novel ways that might create new opportunities and foster strong community bonds.
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