Asia Studies Abroad, Seoul

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Seoul Studio

The selection of Seoul as the subject of the College's spring 2008 traveling studio explored a different idea of architecture and urbanism than those offered by European sites, or sites in LDCs with low Human Development Index scores. Conducting a traveling design studio devoted to Seoul allowed us to explore very complex issues resulting from the still-evolving hyper-urbanism typical of and unique to mega/global/world cities.

The studio project site, located in the Kang-buk district of Seoul, famous for its collisions between the towers of hyper-modernity and Chosun dynasty palaces, provided a particularly rich focus area to stage our investigations. Our goals for the Seoul Studio were aimed at radically expanding the students’ range of response to design challenges presented by these rapidly evolving urbanisms.