50-Year-Old Apartment History Recorded by Artist... Exhibition of 'Observation and Documentation of Everyday Architecture'

Changes in Yeouido Sibeom Apartments Over 50 Years Captured by 8 Artists
Exhibition at DDP Until March

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] An exhibition interpreting the stories embodied in buildings through eight artists from various fields will be held, focusing on the Yeouido Sibeom Apartment, which is subject to reconstruction.

Reading Yeouido Sibeom Apartment. Kim Ji-ae.. [Photo by Seoul Design Foundation]

The exhibition "Observation and Recording of Everyday Architecture" will be held from the 27th to March 31 at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (hereinafter DDP) Gallery Moon. The exhibition is co-hosted by the Seoul Design Foundation, which operates DDP, and the New Architects Association, with the New Architects Association organizing the event.

This exhibition began by capturing the changes in the building caused by the intervention of various factors, including users, after the building was completed. It suggests where the true value of architectural design lies by showing the original form of architecture created by the supplier and the constantly changing architecture that accommodates users' demands.

The subject of observation for the exhibition is the Yeouido Sibeom Apartment, Korea's first complex high-rise apartment. Completed in October 1971, it has been selected as the subject of observation because it has preserved its continuously changing appearance, accommodating residents' demands to respond to changes in lifestyles and living environments over more than 50 years.

'Observation and Documentation of Everyday Architecture' Exhibition Work '50 Years, Changes in Outdoor Spaces' (Min Byungwook) [Photo by Seoul Design Foundation]

The works are expressed through various media such as text, photographs, diagrams, and drawings, and are introduced in a total of eight spaces including the introduction. Eight artists active in different fields such as architects, photographers, and painters reinterpreted the observed subject, which changed over time, from their own perspectives.

The Yeouido Sibeom Apartment is one of the early apartments built in Yeouido during the industrialization era when Seoul rapidly expanded, even among old buildings. It is significant as a complex high-rise apartment equipped with elevators and centralized heating, presenting the prototype of middle-class communal housing.

The Seoul Design Foundation explained that the Yeouido Sibeom Apartment is currently preparing for reconstruction, and the exhibition holds value in that this meaningful modern architectural work of Korea is recorded from various perspectives before it disappears from the public's memory.

Special lectures to aid visitors' understanding are also prepared. On February 11 and March 11 at 2 p.m., lectures on the themes "Architecture After Architecture" and "Architecture and Living Items" will be held at DDP Gallery Moon.