When Reactions Become Action
Cho Minsuk founded the Seoul-based firm MASS STUDIES in 2003. It has been committed to the discourse of architecture through socio-cultural and urban research and mostly built works that have been recognized globally. Representative works include the Pixel House, Missing Matrix, Bundle Matrix, Shanghai Expo 2010: Korea Pavilion, Daum Space.1, Tea Stone/ Innisfree, Southcape, Dome-ino, the Daejeon University Student Dormitory. Current in-progress projects, all selected through competitions, include the new Seoul Cinematheque (Montage 4:5), the Danginri Cultural Space (Danginri Podium and Promenade), the Yang-dong District Main Street (Sowol Forest), and the Yeonhui Public Housing. Recently completed projects include the Space K Seoul (2020) and Pace Gallery (2021). Active beyond his practice, he co-curated the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale and was the commissioner and co-curator of the Korean Pavilion for the 14th International Architecture Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia, which was awarded the Gold Lion for Best National Participation. In late 2014, PLATEAU Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, held its first-ever architecture exhibition, highlighting his works in a solo exhibition titled ‘Before/After: MASS STUDIES Does Architecture.’ Cho is an active lecturer and speaker at symposiums.
Rupture / Continuity
Lee Jongkeun (Lee): It’s been quite some time since we’ve had an overview of MASS STUDIES’ work. To do so, I think it’s important to first revisit the ’Before/After MASS STUDIES Does Architecture’ ▼01 exhibition held at the PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art in 2014. This exhibition was a momentous event as a synopsis of the oeuvre of MASS STUDIES at a particular moment.
At this point in time, it seems necessary to briefly reflect on what that exhibition had suggested.
Cho Minsuk (Cho): ’Before/After MASS STUDIES Does Architecture’ was an opportunity to review the overall work of MASS STUDIES’ first 12 years, including its interests, strategies, accomplishments, and failures. It was also a time to systematically examine the various internal and external variables that define our work.
In retrospect, that exhibition clearly served as a point of rupture. This year marks the 19th year for MASS STUDIES, and now as an ‘adult,’ opportunities to engage in long-term continuities increasingly emerge.
If everything could only be ‘new’ in the early days, there is now a recursive exploration of the familiar and unfamiliar, causing greater tension and amplification. Just
