HAMHUNG:TRACES OF THE BAUHAUS REMAIN IN THE KOREAN PENINSULA

This year, 2019, the Korean Society commemorates the centennial of the Korean provisional government and the March 1st Movement in 1919. As historical accounts resurface in the name of the centenary, I can sense how present this history continues to be. Over the past few years, the architectural world has held a series of events in celebration of this centennial of Modernist architecture: Adolf Loos’ Steiner House – considered the starting point of Modernism – was completed in 1910, De Stijl was founded in 1917, and Bauhaus was established in 1919. As such, an opportunity to review the Modernism movement has occurred.

The 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale celebrated the centenary of Le Corbusier’s Dom-Ino under the theme, ‘Absorbing Modernity: 1914 – 2014’. Under the direction of Rem Koolhaas, all participants covered the related topics. The Korean Pavilion demonstrated the Korean Peninsula as a single entity through the examination of both Korean architecture, drawing a huge amount of attention and winning the Golden Lion Award for the first time. The significance of the award can be examined from two positions. First, the world started to pay attention to the accomplishment of Korean architecture; the other – as noted by Cho Minsuk (principal, Mass Studies), the Director of the Korean Pavilion at that time – that Korea should in the modern era be treated as the ‘Korean Peninsula’ rather than dividing it into South/North. As an extension to Cho’s remarks, this article will narrate a fascinating story and raise a question: what present-day meaning will the Bauhaus – which spreads modern architecture to the whole world – present us with with regards to the modernisation of the architecture of the Korean Peninsula?

Modernism and the Reconstruction of Cities in North Korea

The Korean War, erupting in 1950, was the biggest tragedy to befall