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| Hong Kong architect Gary Chang's furniture installation 'Learning from Hong Kong: Compact Living _ a Global Phenomenon' is displayed at the 'Confluence 20+' exhibition held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza / Courtesy of Seoul Design Foundation |
By Yun Suh-young
In the fashion publication world, "The September Issue" refers to the most important edition of the year for a fashion magazine.
September is meaningful in many ways for the industry. It is the month that signals the change of season from summer to fall, and when a new fashion season begins. It is also the start of a new school year for schools following the North American system. Not to mention autumn is when important cultural happenings take place.
Seoul is also bracing for its own "September Issue" next month, as it will be hosting several events all themed around design. September is when Seoul Design Week is held annually in the city, this time around from Sept. 21 through 27 at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul. Another parallel event on design and architecture will begin in September, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism_ from Sept. 2 through Nov. 5. And last but not least, Seoul invited Hong Kong's Design Center to hold their 3rd "Confluence 20+" exhibition which will take place from Aug. 26 through Sept. 16 at the DDP in Seoul.
"Confluence 20+" is being held for the first time in Seoul and is the third stop after Milan and Hong Kong where the exhibition was held earlier this year. Following Seoul, the exhibition will head to Chicago. It is the third edition of an exhibition series aiming to present a holistic picture of Hong Kong's creative ecology. The first was held in 2007 and the second in 2010 as part of the Shanghai Expo.
"This time, I came up with the name 'confluence,'" said Amy Chow, curator of Confluence 20+, during a press tour of the exhibition in Seoul, Friday.
"Confluence means where rivers and streams merge. I tried to look for stories where inspirations merge between tradition and innovation. I selected 20 projects from 20 designers for the exhibition. With each story, there's an angle of 'confluence.'"
Chow visited the venue (DDP) five times just to understand the space.
When entering the "Design Museum" space starting from M2 of the building, the series of design works are exhibited along the pathway spiraling up to the fourth floor of the building. The space apparently fits well with the concept of the exhibition because the path is like a river flowing downwards. The exhibition can be enjoyed either from the fourth level down or from the second level up.
"This exhibition space is my concept of the river," said Chow. Moving from the second floor up, she explained every single piece of work by the 20 artists she selected.
James Law's works are miniatures of his mobile home concept in real-life size. A portable living unit called the "Alpod" was the concept Law had for the mobile home. It is a lightweight sturdy aluminum shell equipped with a power outlet, air conditioning, and a kitchen. Inside those miniature units, Law tried to depict a very local scene of Hong Kong for the exhibition.
Elaine Yan Ling Ng's The Fabric Lab exhibits a fascinating moving fabric called "Sensus" which responds to the proximity of humans by sensors. It is paving the way as a hybrid material to be weaved into clothing as smart fabric for the future.
Gary Chang built a typical Hong Kong "compact home" for his work titled "Learning from Hong Kong: Compact Living _ a Global Phenomenon." It is a wall constructed of assemblages of furniture, which is his experiment with the extreme conditions of limited space in high-density, hyper-urban environments.
"I've lived in my apartment for 40 years and I've never moved. Now I'm thinking it's too big. The most common apartment in Hong Kong is 18 square meters but it's getting smaller and smaller. Maybe one day, our home may become a wall," said Chang, speaking to reporters.
"I heard that Seoul's apartments are also getting smaller and smaller and one third of Seoul's households are single households. We're fighting a battle with space."
Lee Chi Wing created a mobile tea bar where people can stand up and have their tea while chatting with the person next to them, instead of the traditional sit-and-be-served tea rooms.
"While people consider coffee as hip and cool, tea isn't. I wondered why we can't make tea more hip and enjoyable? I wanted this bar to be a place where people can exchange ideas. This moving bar can be disassembled and reassembled."
While "Confluence 20+" touches upon the urbanism of Hong Kong, Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism expands the horizon to the world, including viewpoints of various global cities. The biennale is the first to be held in Seoul on urbanism and architecture and the theme for this year is "Imminent Commons." The biennale aims to share views and methodologies in solving various socio-cultural, architectural and urban ecology issues global cities are facing.
There are three tiers to the event _ theme exhibitions, city exhibitions, and on-scene projects. The theme exhibition will be held at Donuimun Museum Village near Gyeonghui Palace with programs including an exhibition called "Seoul on Air" which shows the augmented environment of Seoul's weather captured through sensors on public transportation. On the city exhibitions held at the DDP, various public projects in 50 cities across the world will be introduced, including London, New York, Vienna, Shanghai, and Pyongyang. For Pyongyang, a life-size model house of a Pyongyang apartment will be exhibited.
The third track involving on-scene projects will be experimental tours around Seoul to explore various themes from manufacturing, food scarcity to the walkable city.
The Seoul Design Week 2017 hasn't released a specific agenda yet on their event, but the theme will be "Design for Better Relationship." The annual event will include conferences and seminars, exhibitions, workshops for young designers, and outdoor markets and events.
For more information, visit confluence20.hk, www.seoulbiennale.org, and www.seouldesignweek.or.kr.
