Tracing the Korean Pavilion

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Stage 4. Pavilion Proliferating through Modules Derived from the Existing Brick Building

1993.12.10

Module
Cube
Proliferating
Trees
Exhibition Space

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

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

Following the Korean delegation’s second visit, the City of Venice approved the use of the designated site for the construction of the Korean Pavilion, and detailed consultations regarding the design guidelines were carried out between the two governments. The proposal attached to the letter summarizing the content of those consultations was presented as a single-page floor plan drawn conceptually on top of a site plan showing the surrounding national pavilions. The floor-plan module derived from the existing brick building, first introduced in the previous stage, was given three-dimensional form as a cube, and the Korean Pavilion as a whole was composed through the proliferation of this cube. The size of the exhibition space was maximized while preserving the cube module and avoiding interference with the surrounding protected treesTrees legally protected that cannot be felled or transplanted arbitrarily. The gap between the existing brick building and the new construction was reduced to half the length of the basic module, most likely because the trees at the northern edge of the site made it impossible to apply the full module interval. Judging from the floor plan sketch, each cube composing the new structure—like the existing brick building—was planned with a gabled roofA roof sloping down on two sides from a central ridge (∧-shape) and a circular skylightA window set in a roof or ceiling to admit daylight from above at its center. It can also be seen that the wave-shaped window facing the lagoonShallow body of water surrounding Venice, partially separated from the sea by sandbars, developed in the previous stage, appears symmetrically, one each on the western and eastern sides.

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

The Stage 4 design model was produced largely through inference, based on the single site plan contained in the “Fax from Kim Seok Chul to F. Mancuso” dated December 8, 1993 (MC-VB-01019), with the continuity between the preceding and subsequent stages taken into consideration. The axis and grid system derived from the existing brick building, together with the use of unit modules of identical dimensions, became the primary basis for the reconstruction. The diagonal lines crossing the top of each cube were interpreted as indicating gabled roof forms corresponding to those of the existing building, while the circle at the center was interpreted as representing a cylindrical skylight that also appears in later stages of the design. Based on correspondence emphasizing transparency toward the lagoon, the wave-shaped form and the small rectangular mass attached along the east–west axis, in addition to the basic module, were rendered in glass to ensure unobstructed views.

Tracing the Korean Pavilion in Venice