RECONSTRUCTING THE VANISHED BUILDINGS AND THE DELETED TIME : ERASED KOREAN MODERN ARCHITECTURE

Erased Korean Modern Architecture authored by Park Goeun was published in January 2022, highlighting the erased works of modern architecture in Seoul, Korea, as negative heritage sites. The designer’s log, which documents traces of vanished architecture from the various data archived in movies, newspapers, postcards, news, and so on, cuts across Korea’s modern history in terms of space and architecture when a certain period of time is removed from historical record. In conversation with the author, here we will hear stories of this erased time, which shed light on modern architecture obscured or erased by propaganda such as the liquidation of past history, anti-Japanese sentiment, and erasing traces of military dictatorship.

Bang Yukyung (Bang): I am curious about the career background of the author, as the book Erased Korean Modern Architecture focuses on modern architecture through the eyes of a designer. I heard that it was based on a thesis written in the Netherlands while completing your studies. You decided to go abroad to pursue a career in the design industry—what was the trigger?

Park Goeun (Park): I studied visual communication design in college. As I was interested in publishing magazines and books at the time, I worked for hongdesign for about five years after graduation. It was a time when print media culture was in transition from paper-based to digital media, so I naturally developed an interest in digital media, and that is why I started to prepare a study abroad in 2018. Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands teaches graphic design in a nontraditional way. Information design,