"The bird's eye view. It is a new function added to our senses. It is a new standard of measurement. It is a new basis of sensation," wrote Le Corbusier in his 1935 volume Aircraft, a celebration of the beauty of air planes and their parts, and a discovery of the power of aerial images.
"Crow's Eye View", the title of the Korean Pavilion, winner of the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 14th Venice Architecture International Exhibition, may be interpreted as a dark twist on Le Corbusier's praise of the aerial view.
The inspiration behind the title of the pavilion was indeed a Korean serial poem, "Ogamdo" ("Crow's Eye View") by Yi Sang (1910-1937), published in 1934 on daily newspaper Joseon Joongang.
Yi Sang actually hoped to become an architect: an admirer of Le Corbusier, he graduated in 1929 from Gyeongseong Engineering High School with training as an architect, and was employed as a draftsman in the public works department of the Governor-General of Korea.
In December of the same year he also won first and third prizes in a design contest for the cover of Korea and Architecture (Joseongwa geonchuk), and the journal of the Korean Architecture Society (Joseon geonchukhoe).
He began his literary career in 1931, becoming well-known for his avant-garde writings and experimental poems that broke from poetic convention and in which he incorporated the language of architecture including lines, dots and numbers.
Yi Sang died in 1937 of tuberculosis and, since he lived his life under Japanese colonial rule, he did not experience the division of Korea.
The Korean Peninsula was indeed divided in two after the Second World War, and the pavilion at the Venice Biennale started as an attempt at offering a universilising bird’s eye view of the architectural history in North and South Korea.
The "Crow's Eye View" refers to the realisation that it is not possible to provide such a history (crows have divided vision; they can see and process two separate unrelated pictures, so they can see an entire picture with just one eye), but it is possible to offer visitors the chance to survey a wide range of works produced by architects, urbanists, poets and writers, artists, photographers, film makers, and collectors.
The resulting exhibition, co-curated by the architectural historians and critics Hyungmin Pai and Changmo Ahn, include several contributors and projects divided in four large themes, "Reconstructing Life", "Monumental State", "Borders" and "Utopian Tours".
The first theme begins with the immediate post-Korean War years when both North and South Korea were struggling to bring stability and growth to their societies and therefore looks at how the architectural environments of Seoul and Pyongyang functioned as mechanisms of memory and desire.
Despite differences, both Koreas shared the high-density form of apartment living. Apartments become therefore communal symbols for both the South Korean middle-class and the classless people of North Korea.
This section also features Moon Hoon's "Shamanism Deconstruction: Doodling to the Moon", a series of dystopian intricately detailed drawings inspired by science fiction (including films such as Total Recall), Hinduism, Buddhism, shamanism, occultism, mysticism, Russian Constructivism, French philosophers like Bataille and visionary architects like Lebbeus Woods.
The section "Monumental State" analyses a series of emotions – delusion, sympathy, loathing and confusion – as seen through the eyes of photographers and film makers, including Alessandro Belgiojoso, Charlie Crane, Maxime Delvaux, Philipp Meuse. This part provides visitors with visions of architecture according to the North Korean architect - more engaged with the heroic task of building a socialist society - and the South Korean architect, represented by Kim Swoo Geun (1931-1986).
Three models of buildings designed by Kim Swoo Geun - the Alborz Housing Project (1976), the Space Group of Korea Building (1977), and Kyung Dong Church (1980) - are featured in this section.
A focus on the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) region on the Korean peninsula that demarcates North Korea from South Korea, characterises the "Borders" section.
The DMZ remains indeed the ultimate no man's land, the emblem of political and natural human absence, but it's also a paradoxical space that has produced rich ecological habitats due to the continuing stalemate between the two Koreas.
There is finally emphasis on North Korea in the "Utopian Tours" section that includes materials from the collection and commissions of Nick Bonner.
Film maker, collector and friend of many North Korean artists and architects, Bonner co-founded in 1993 the Koryo Group, a company specialising in travel, film and cultural production in North Korea.
The room dedicated to "Utopian Tours" includes linocuts, ink paintings, and posters dating from the mid-1950s to the present, plus the comic strip "A Day of an Architect", produced specifically for the Korean Pavilion.
The jury of the Biennale awarded this densely packed exhibition the Golden Lion with the following motivation: "The jury wishes to recognize Korea with a Golden Lion for the extraordinary achievement of presenting a new and rich body of knowledge of architecture and urbanism in a highly charged political situation. Using diverse modes of representation that encourage interaction, it is research-in-action, which expands the spatial and architectural narrative into a geopolitical reality."
While visitors to the Biennale will be able to discover in person the stories and narratives behind the projects and materials at the Korean Pavilion, those ones who may not be able to reach Venice can still find further information and pictures on the Korean Pavilion Facebook page.
Credits for the last image in this post:
14th Venice International Architecture Exhibition, Golden Lion for Best National Participation to Korea. Photo: Rondinella, Courtesy of La Biennale.
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