The Condition of Seoul Architecture

Seoul is just behind Mumbai and Lagos in the list of the most extreme density cities in the world. From a population of 3.5 million in 1965, the city exceeded 25 million in 2019, hosting 50% of the population in an area as large as 12% of South Korea. The central areas have seen the cost of land rising by 680 times since the Korean War, reaching the prohibitive $80,000 per square meter. This extreme situation in which architects must operate, design, and build, creates the theoretical basis of “The Condition of Seoul Architecture”. The research insists on the point of view of 18 of the most innovative South Korean architects, showing their projects and analyzing their position on the built environment of Seoul; while experts, professors, and curators frame urban issues, through descriptions of nostalgia for tradition, minimalism and empty spaces; opportunities arising from the 2008 crisis; and the traditional concept of facade used to bend the rules of the F.A.R. Game. Author: Pier Alessio Rizzardi. Interviews: Moon Hoon, Moon Hoon Architects; Gyoo Jang-yoon, UnSangDong Kim Dong-jin & Kim Yoo-jung, L’EAU design; Cho Min-suk, Mass Studies;Kim Young-joon, YO2 Architects; Hwang Doo-jin, Doojin Hwang Architects;Kim In-cheurl, Archium;Cho Byoung-soo, BCHO Architects; Kim Min-ji, ISON Architects; Kim Hyo-man, Iroje KHM Architects; Kim Jun-sung, Architecture Studio hANd; Choi Moon-gyu, GaA Architects; Choi Wook, ONE O ONE Architects; Kim Jong-kyu, M.A.R.U. network; Ken Sungjin-min, SKM Architects; Kim Chan-joong, THE_SYSTEM LAB; Kim Seung-hoy, KYWC Architects; Lee Jeong-hoon, JOHO Architecture. Contributing Authors: Choi Won-Joon; John Hong; Caroline Maniaque; Rafael Luna; Photographers; Iwan Baan; Kim Yong-kwan; Sun Nam-goong; Hwang Woo-seop.