Tracing the Korean Pavilion

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Stage 1. Variable Pavilion in an Archeological Landscape

1993.10.11

Variable Structure
Surrounding Environment
Landscape
Columns

Modeling Sources
Documents directly reflected in the 3D model for the corresponding stage.

Fax from Kim Seok Chul to F. Mancuso MC-VB-01008

letter, document, drawing
1993-10-18
Kim Seok Chul

Design Commentary
The design content and its development as documented in the archival records.

This was the first design proposal to be organized in the form of architectural drawings, based on the initial consultations regarding the construction of the Korean Pavilion. In order to minimize its impact on the surrounding environment, the plan consists of a “fixed component,” incorporating the existing brick building formerly used as a restroom, and a “variable component,” in which only the columns are permanently erected while the space is configured according to need. The variable component has a rectangular floor plan. Since only the columns remain in place under normal circumstances, it does not obscure the surrounding historical and natural landscape, instead creating a scene reminiscent of the columns of an archeological site. In particular, when viewed from the nearby sea (lagoon(Lagoon): Shallow body of water surrounding Venice, partially separated from the sea by sandbars) toward the Giardini, the existing brick building and the surrounding landscape remain visible through the columns of the Korean Pavilion. During the exhibition period, the floor, walls, and the roof are quickly installed on the twelve columns for use as a “temporary exhibition hall.” Artworks can be viewed both inside and outside the exhibition hall.

Model Interpretation
Interpretations and judgments made by the research team in reconstructing the 3D model.

The Stage 1 design was reconstructed on the basis of the floor plan, elevation drawings, and design statement contained in the “Fax from Kim Seok Chul to F. Mancuso” dated October 18, 1993 (MC-VB-01008). The column structure—comprising five elements: pile, pile cap, column, capital, and lighting fixture—and the arch structural frame connecting these elements were modeled in close accordance with the drawings. The extent of the roof, however, although described in the design statement as a temporary installation for the exhibition period only, was not indicated in the drawings. Its form was therefore reconstructed by taking into account factors such as its relationship to the surrounding trees depicted in the drawings. In addition, the lighting fixtures at the tops of the columns, which are only schematically indicated in the drawings, were reconstructed on the basis of the “archeological image" described in the design statement and with reference to the design of Venetian street lamps, including those in Piazza San Marco.

Tracing the Korean Pavilion in Venice