Korea | 14th Venice Architecture Biennale

Crow’s eye view: the Korean peninsula

Pavilion of the Republic of Korea | 14th Architecture Biennale of Venice

Winner of the Golden Lyon at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014, the exhibition at the pavilion of Korea is a surprising narration of the complexity of a divided nation.
The title of the exhibition, Crow’s eye view, inspired by a Dada-influenced work by the Korean architect and poet Yi Sang, refers to the impossibility of describing the architecture of the two Koreas, and perhaps architecture in general, under a single point of view.

The exposition, articulated in 4 sections, is based on a heterogeneous set of documents, books, photographs, maps, scale models, videos, posters, and so on, which well represents the fragmented modernization process Korea was involved in.
Therefore neither a uniform nor comprehensive vision of Korean architecture is provided; many architects, urban planners, poets, artists, and photographers collaborated to build up a complex and fascinating ensemble of different arguments, themes, and points of view.

The Korean pavilion, completed in 1995 and designed by Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso, is the most recent at the Biennale’s Gardens.

See all Inexhibit magazine articles on the 14th Venice Biennale from the link below to the index page!