Seoul Metropolitan Government
Seoul, Korea
exhibited at the Venice Biennale 2002

View Biennale videoclip (12mb)

articles

	21 Jan 2002 Architecture "On the Boards"
	17 Nov 2002 The Boston Globe "Technology paving the way to a future of freewheeling forms"

notes
Land consumption in Korea has led to serious issues for the country and contributing to this are current funerary and burial practices. In the year 2000 cremations in Korea increased to 50% of total deaths. While the need for columbaria is increasing, associations with this building type carry a heavy stigma within the community. The reluctance to accept columbaria requires an architectural response that will contribute to the transition between past and future burial cultures.

To increase acceptance of a new columbaria typology, we have developed a strategy that enhances visitor's experiences of place through tectonic development and connections to nature.

The design of the columbarium, a repository for 50,000 remains, placed within walled courtyards, is characterized by dignity, repose and connection to nature. The buildings are long and thin creating short aisles perpendicular to the primary circulation offering visitors both variety and continuous directional paths. The configuration ensures direct views to the valley and privacy from the primary circulation. The design accomodates as many as 30,000 daily visitors and provides for diverse observations of mourning and rememberance.


Regarding the Venice Biennale: "Kyu Sung Woo showed a Memorial Park and Columbarium in Korea, in a moving theatrical setting that included a wall of photographs of faces and the sounds of a beating heart and a storm."

The Boston Globe, November 17, 2002