Seoulutions: A Dutch Architect’s Meaningful Experiment (2013.4.1)

Seoulutions: A Dutch Architect’s Meaningful Experiment

 

Focus Korea, (Korea Foundation), April 1, 2013

 

http://www.koreafocus.or.kr/design3/culture/view.asp?volume_id=136&content_id=104591&category=C

 

[English Translation from JoongAng Ilbo, February 26, 2013]

 

Kim, Sung Hong

Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Seoul

 

Dutch architect Bart Reuser of Next Architects, who spent a year at the University of Seoul, published a book upon his return to Amsterdam, titled “Seoulutions for Dutch Cities.” The pocket-sized book was well-received among scholars and experts in the Netherlands, a global architectural trendsetter. The author was even invited to give a special lecture at a Swiss school of architecture.

 

Reuser spent his year in Seoul as if he were a Seoulite, or more so in many ways. He lived in a traditional row house on the hills of Bukchon village, and his little son went to a kindergarten in the neighborhood. Being well prepared and quick on his feet, he had the whole city at his fingertips almost instantly. Before he came to Korea, he had read books about Seoul and the moment he arrived he bought a second-hand scooter to get around. He drove to the University of Seoul near Cheongnyangni and to factory sites on the outskirts where few Seoulites visit. In his large backpack that he always carried with him were a map and a notebook.

 

He was attracted to the Hongdae district, where low-rise houses and commercial areas were juxtaposed. You would think that an architect would be more interested in the works of other famous architects, or Bukchon where ancient palaces lie next to traditional Korean houses, or Teheran Boulevard in the Gangnam district crowded with high-rise buildings and apartment complexes, but he was more interested in a detached house that had an annexed dentist’s office, a café that occupied the parking lot on the first floor of a multi-family house, a complex building with an office and a plot of garden on top, and an atelier built over a marketplace next to the railroad.

 

Why was he so enthralled by the ordinary landscape that lies outside the realm of architectural theory and critique? In his eyes, Seoul is not a city that can be reformed in an orderly fashion like the modern cities of the West. He felt that new architecture was possible in Seoul that was not feasible in Europe. After applying rules such as building-to-land ratio, floor area ratio, building line and diagonal plane control, the maximum allowable space for a building can be determined. Reuser called the rugged contours the silhouette, and he focused on the changes that took place within. In Korea, architects walk along legal boundaries to maximize their profits from projects, but the Dutch textbooks do not teach such things.

 

Interestingly enough, Koreans had always thought that such dynamic architecture was the subject for reprogramming and had benchmarked European cities for solutions. European cities are known for their strict urban development and architectural laws. For example, in the Netherlands it is not easy to change a flower shop into a café because, unlike in Korea, the zoning system is applied at the individual lot level not on a whole neighborhood. Even the shape of the roof, color, materials and the size of the windows are subject to regulations.

 

Under such a system it is possible to preserve a city’s history but it is difficult to experiment with something new. The official who makes final decisions usually does not change the regulations for fear of public complaints. The Dutch architect is calling for a revision of the urban planning and architectural regulations by presenting the “Seoulutions.” It is ironic to think that an architect coming from a city recognized for its architecture would want to take lessons from Seoul.

 

The Hongdae district covered in his book is a residential area that was created under a “land readjustment project” during the modernization and urbanization period. This is an urban planning program in which crooked lots are straightened out and some of the land is taken out to build roads and parks. It started at the end of the 1930s, and 40 percent of Seoul’s urbanized area was created in this manner. The low-rise houses are becoming old and will be subject to restoration in 20 years. New Seoulutions are in order for this low-growth period.

 

German philosopher Max Weber (1864-1920) claimed in his book “The City” that there were no true cities to be found in Asia. How short-sighted he was. Of the 30 megacities worldwide today, 16 are in Asia, and this is reason enough why the European architects and urban planners are looking to the region. What would Weber have said if he were alive today? Of all Asian cities, Seoul is a city of huge potential. When you take a step back and look inside, you can get a clearer view of things that you may have missed when you saw them every day. That is what Seoulutions are like.