Zaha Hadid called an empress visited. Many people flocked to see her. She grabbed the headlines in every media.
However, the people, who are architects or non-architects, around me rarely have a good feeling toward Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). By virtue of constructional techniques dispelling people’s distrust, ‘Can it be built properly?’, resistance is being recovered a little. But, Zaha Hadid, herself looks satisfied.
Before the opening of DDP, someone asked her “Does the scale of DDP seem to be way beyond the mark comparing to the surrounding areas of Dongdaemun Gate?” in a talk show. Zaha replied that the scale is a privilege of architects. It seemed like a reckless remark like a ringing gong to numerous architects who are concerned about ‘how to build a good structure’.
An identification of a structure in a city is defined by the surroundings. We call a structure claiming to stand for self-will as ‘a Horrid Thing’. In order for architects to understand lives in landscapes and groups of surroundings and associate with them, they make sketches spending nights. Such agony is revealed in a drawing.
DDP, it is called as the world biggest atypical structure now. However, the reputation would become completely worthless overnight if a bigger one appears.
This is the illusion of ‘the Largest and Highest’. The word, “When a structure is being loved by people and is becoming a favorite location the priceless structural value would be made” is a common sense of architects.
By the way, the thought of the winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize which is the Nobel Prize in the architecture field put a common sense to shame. However, it is thought that it does not need to criticize Zaha’s architectural philosophy. Constructing the structure of such a person on the site of Dongdaemun Stadium is our decision, anyway.
Tracking back to 2007 when the International Design Competition held, four great foreign architects and four representatives of Korean architects were nominated at the time. Domestic top architects were rejected like falling leaves. Then, are their proposals the right answers? It cannot be assured, but, they were proposals considering regionality and historicity at least.
If so, who selected Zaha and who is in charge of this result? If nobody is in charge?
Presently, the architectural field is considering ‘Bid Price’ as an unsanitary food and ‘Design Competition’ as an honest good. However, is ‘Design Competition’ believable if such results are resulted in?
Once Architectural Service Promotion Act comes into effect from June, ‘Design Competition Obligation’ will come to a reality. Nevertheless, the number of experts who are worried about negative effects of design competition is not low. We have to reconsider their opinions. ‘Design Competition’ is not a ‘Master Key’.
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Writer:
Yee OhJooEun
architectural journalist
email: yojest@naver.com
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The article offers received.
Original article : http://www.conslove.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=33807 (Korean language)
