Destructive Creation
Gunsan City, North Jeolla Province
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Once a Japanese colonial port, now with a U.S. Air Force base, Gunsan has long been a city of strangers who are constantly coming and going. Today, Udangtangtang
( UDTT), a group of young newcomers, is revitalizing the old market and hosting local culture-based guerrilla events through “Do It Together” (DIT) workshops and projects. Working with them, the Society of Architecture (SoA) explores how contemporary nomads in “relational populations” could revive local legacy and culture through ontological design for communal autonomy (Arturo Escobar). Thinking about Gunsan’s declining population proactively, SoA presents various designs for “destructive creation” so that new public spaces can be formed by the return of nature into abandoned areas. These designs include food production from the return of Gunsan’s vast mud flats, manual tools for collaborative labor, and other ideas. SoA’s research and designs are presented inside a partial recreation of an abandoned house from Gunsan that it demolished.
Installation view:
The Korean Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia
Photo : Daniele Nalesso. Courtesy of the Korean Pavilion.
If we open the window
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of SoA
An empty house
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
Nature growing in an empty house
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
DIT workshop for making tools
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
DIT workshop for destruction
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
An empty house after the DIT workshop
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
Destructive Creation
Gunsan City, North Jeolla Province
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Once a Japanese colonial port, now with a U.S. Air Force base, Gunsan has long been a city of strangers who are constantly coming and going. Today, Udangtangtang
( UDTT), a group of young newcomers, is revitalizing the old market and hosting local culture-based guerrilla events through “Do It Together” (DIT) workshops and projects. Working with them, the Society of Architecture (SoA) explores how contemporary nomads in “relational populations” could revive local legacy and culture through ontological design for communal autonomy (Arturo Escobar). Thinking about Gunsan’s declining population proactively, SoA presents various designs for “destructive creation” so that new public spaces can be formed by the return of nature into abandoned areas. These designs include food production from the return of Gunsan’s vast mud flats, manual tools for collaborative labor, and other ideas. SoA’s research and designs are presented inside a partial recreation of an abandoned house from Gunsan that it demolished.
Installation view:
The Korean Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia
Photo : Daniele Nalesso. Courtesy of the Korean Pavilion.
If we open the window
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of SoA
An empty house
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
Nature growing in an empty house
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
DIT workshop for making tools
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
DIT workshop for destruction
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture
An empty house after the DIT workshop
2023. Digital print on paper. Courtesy of texture on texture