Postmodernist North Korea
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Post-Modernist North Korea (Draft Proposal) WHY? On the 38th parallel north, a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the equator, lies the division between the two koreas. A Military Demarcation Line, 250 km long and 4 km wide, the original boundary between the United States and the Soviet Union’s administration regions at the end of World War II arbitrarily separated Korea into halves. For the past 60 years, the divide between the Koreas has remained one of the most extreme on the planet. Architecture plays a critical role in the ongoing political development of the divide and may shine light on the future prospects of the Koreas. Dealing with dualities and boundaries, whether political, social or physical, is a perennial topic Architects attempt to wrestle with. My thesis will explore the ways in which this boundary can be mitigated through Architecture, and ultimately strive towards the reunification of the two Koreas. WHAT?  Kaesong Industrial Complex Just north of the DMZ lies the city of Kaesong. The city is situated halfway (a mere 2 hour-drive) between Pyongyang and Seoul. Despite the general consensus of the DMZ being the most hostile line on this planet. Until earlier this year, the Kaesong Industrial region has been a special region where the Koreas engaged in cross-border economic exchanges. With a rich pre-WWII historical significance as Capital city of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The region is dotted with traditional Korean artifacts dating back from the Joseon period, with the old town being known as one of the best-preserved areas in all of Korea. Kaesong is key to the reunification of the Koreas. Kaesong 2016 and beyond
In early 2016, tension between the two nations rose as the North demanded that the 123 South Korean companies move out of Kaeson. It had previously created over 50,000 jobs giving a better quality of life to those families in the North. On the 5th September 2016, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon calls for a policy to reopen the doors to Kaesong, on his path towards reunification. He says that, “By combining the economy of South Korea and inexpensive labor and natural resources of North Korea we will see a thriving boom in construction 30 years from now,” On the 9th November, two things happened, Donald Trump was elected the president of the United states,and also Ahn Cheol-soo and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon declared to ‘oust’ the current president Park Geun-hye as a response following her scandal recently. In the midst of the massive shift in political influence in the south, the North Koreans have yet to respond and have stayed relatively quiet. With two liberal korean politicians stepping up to run the country, new policies and further plans for Kaesong may come into play. On this footing, my thesis thus shall directly respond to any immediate social-political forces that happens as the proposal develops as to deliver a timely Architectural response. HOW? If we consider the political plans as the basis of the ‘program’ or the function of the zone, then what of the design considerations, such as scale, material, circulation, and form? A Closed State How might one propose to build on a site that is in the least accessible nation on the planet? Photography, Literature and interviews, give us powerful insight towards the hidden lives of the North Koreans, and we can see that compare the contrast between the literature of those in the rest of North Korea. “When I was still living in North Korea, I had heard that people in Kaesong speak like Seoulites. When I finally got to meet someone from Kaesong, I was so surprised to find out how similar the Kaesong accent was to the way Seoulites speak. The Kaesong accent sounded so sweet and gentle to me that I kept asking that person to keep speaking to me: “can you keep talking to me with your accent, please? I don’t care what you say. Please, just keep talking to me.”
According to another North Korean defector, an astounding 70-80 percent of North Koreans are secretly tuning into South Korean popular culture. “Citizens are living in two realities – the official North Korean state-sanctioned reality, and the more capitalistic reality – and they are determined to continue to learn about the world outside North Korea.”
By reading and understanding the Juche ideology, the Confucian-socialist construct that is the foundation of the whole country, founded by the great eternal leader Kim-il sung, gives us the ‘sense’ of what North Koreans are raised to believe, the great ideas of the past are conflicting with the things North Koreans see now, to render these conflicts visible, as a reminder of an alternate reality, by experimenting with material, view, and types of physical boundaries, I want to create a piece of Architecture that provokes thoughts and ideas that challenge the current ideologies. For instance, religious belief in North Korea is technically free, and does not go against the Juche ideology, however, the Christian belief certainly doesn’t agree with the godly status of the Kim family. South Korean Popular Culture, what does this have to play a role in Architecture, since the culture is known to have already disseminated throughout the state. How does one intend to mix the South Korean visitors to the North Korean city? Would a question of such circulatory systems answer questions to the greater planning of the city? Does the design inform the narrative of one’s North/South Korean and begin to reveal the disparities of the two ideals? Thesis should be an ongoing investigation, and as of now, I see an opportunity for a new development for South Korean tourism in the city of Kaesong, and this duality must be amplified in order for a post-modern movement to begin in the city of Kaesong. And finally, I intend to conduct a site visit at the beginning of January, where I construct a new understanding of place, in the dimension that is beyond the computer screen of online libraries and information. By planning in the coming two months, of things to investigate, questions to ask, and different areas of a possible site in relation to my prescribed tour of the country.
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