Following the feature on Yung Ho Chang (covered in SPACE No. 690, FEATURE section), SPACE and Inha Jung (Professor, Hanyang University) trace the history of modern and contemporary East Asian architecture through a two-part interview with Kuma Kengo. Having experienced the rise and fall of Japan¡¯s bubble economy firsthand during his university studies and early years of practice, Kuma critically viewed the architecture of that era – which he saw as ostentatious as American Postmodernism – and sought a different architectural path, diverging from the previous generation of architects who flourished during the economic boom. While the previous issue examined his formative experiences and the concepts of form and freedom found in Weak Architecture, this concluding installment delves into his critical perspective on Postmodernism, his proposal of ¡®relationality¡¯ as an alternative to ostentatious architecture, and the value of time shared by East Asian architecture.

Our intention was to preserve the original perimeter structure and to work within the constraints it imposed, without erasing the atmosphere of the existing building. From a construction standpoint, the existing perimeter walls played a central role, acting as bracing elements within the new structural system. We aim to keep the atmosphere of the untouched parts unchanged, while anchoring new interventions to them through reinterpreted material and construction traditions, where architectural detail becomes a direct expression of how the building is made.

GM Korea¡¯s Bupyeong Plant 2 (hereinafter Bupyeong Plant 2) was shut down on the 26th of November, 2022, citing declining performance and worsening business viability. It was the first time in sixty years that the machines came had come to a halt. ¡®MOTOR TIMES: Again, From Where It Stopped¡¯ takes this moment as its point of departure. The exhibition traces how the documentation of labour, which is measured and controlled down to the second, have been inscribed into this space and onto its machinery, as automobile parts were assembled on the conveyor belt and gradually took form. By making this intervention into the place of labour and opening a crack into industrial spectacle, the exhibition raises questions about what such an encounter can reveal. We spoke with curator Kim Eunhee (Director, Gyeongin Collective) about the implications for and possibilities of this project.

 

Quarter House began not with the completion of a single form, but with the intention of establishing a framework in which diverse ways of living could naturally permeate it and grow. As a family community-based residential project voluntarily formed by six households centred around four brothers and spanning three generations – siblings, parents, and children – it required a new architectural approach. Standing on the boundary between the individual and the family, and between private domains and public relationships, this housing project serves as a testing ground for a new kind of dwelling in which sharing and independence coexist. In response, we proposed a structure in which the many layers of life could be stacked within a single architectural entity, allowing different lived rhythms and relationships to be maintained simultaneously. Under the guiding concept of ¡®A Village of Diverse Lives: Living Pixel¡¯, here architecture functions as a vessel for dwelling while engaging with community.​

The house of black scales, HEUKLINGAK (ýÙ×÷ÊÈ), is named after its grey Japanese-style roof tiles and burnt red pine wood surface, both of which resemble black scales. The journey taken by this jeoksan (Japanese colonial property) house in Mokpo¡¯s old city centre to reclaim its previous appearance leads one to scrutinise the restoration and use of modern architectural heritage in the present as well as in the future. This discussion features Kim Gyungin (Principal, Landscape Design SHARE), who spearheaded the restoration of HEUKLINGAK, and Seo Dongchun (Professor, Mokpo National University), a researcher of modern historical cultural heritage.