The Architect – Taipei to Busan
I was invited by Dong-Eui University in Busan to expand the conversation on gentrification. As it happens, displacement is happening throughout the world as real estate prices are rising exponentially. In Taipei for instance, real estate prices have rose 70% in from 2005-2014. And with this rise in real estate, the income has not risen at a similar rate. It’s not enough to say who cares and let the markets continue to rise at unsustainable rates.
American Indonesian Exchange Foundation supported the trip to Busan with the goal of encouraging the exchange of ideas within the region, and this trip was educational for me, but also I spoke to the students and faculty at Dong-Eui University about my research.. I learned that Busan faces similar issues. I learned that they also have a team currently investigating the role of gentrification in the city of Busan. I delivered a lecture in English and my former classmate, Jin Kyu Kang, translated the lecture into Korean.
My interest in applying for the Fulbright Scholar program, started with the co-creation of a course at Pratt Institute, “Productive Collisions” with co-professors Jack Travis and Jeffrey Chen. The course has three goals which include an interdisciplinary approach, student awareness, and facilitating design to generate understanding. My lecture framed gentrification as it has occurred in Brooklyn and begin to explore the ways the “Productive Collisions” course has approached educating students about social issues surrounding Pratt Institute. As part of the lecture, I introduced them to the work we are doing with Reconnect Brooklyn in the collaboration Productive Collisions.
With the translation included, the lecture lasted over two hours and was followed up with a conversation and student and professor questions. In many ways, our concerns are more similar than different, but more importantly, as academics I believe that architects and designers should be in many ways involved in these conversations. Design strategies can be used to create solutions. We share a planet and the planet in many ways revolting against us with rising sea levels, wildfires, and extreme shifts in climate. Coincidentally the weekend we were in Busan the global climate report was released in America. Architects and urban planners have to be invested in solving these issues.
Busan to Seoul
We took the high speed rail from Busan to Seoul. The travel time was 2 hours and 15 minutes and the amount of distance traveled was 325 km/505 miles. Within hours, we transformed from a coastal city to the metropolitan of Seoul. Seoul is a city that loves design. You can tell by the way the residents are dressed and by the look and feel of the city. There is great attention paid to the aesthetic of the urban environment. I am certain there must be a historical context, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to fully understand the history. We did start our visit with historical structures of Jongmyo and Gyeongbokgung Palace. You can see a brief description below and a few images from our trip. We finished our trip with one of Zaha Hadid’s last projects, DDP. With a budget of $446 million, this project is the essence of the Starchitect Architectural movement. The scale is grand, the materials are innovative, and as a building (beyond programming), it is a cultural attractor.
Jongmyo
Jongmyo is a shrine based on Confucian principles dedicated to the spirits of the former Kings and queens that once ruled Korea. The structures are simple wood structures that intentionally lack adornment. It is on UNESCO World Heritage list (1995).
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Gyeondgbokgung was established in 1395 by the Joseon Dynasty that ruled Korea from (1392-1910). It’s situated adjacent to the mountains. The literal meaning is “brilliance and fortune”. The palace was destroyed in 1592 by fire and was in ruins for 270 years until 867 when it was restored by Heungseon Daewonggun. The restored palace suffered more damage between (1910 – 1945) during Japanese occupation. In 1990, Japanese structures were removed and the palace was restored.
Dongdaeum Design Park (DDP) – Zaha Hadid’s Final Public Project
This building exudes Zaha Hadid’s style. A 338 SM cultural center sits in the garment district of the city. This building is striking and the scale is monumental. You can wonder throughout this space for hours. It is programmed as a space for public art display. It is impossible to capture the building from just one camera shot. It is dynamic and complex and if you have an interest in architecture, you should see this building.
The Matriarch – Leila Loves South Korea (too)
Leila’s most challenging and impressive feat is that she sat through a two hour lecture I delivered at Dong-Eui University with minimal fidgeting or disruption. She acted as the photographer for the day documenting most of the lecture and when I finished she walked up to me and let me know that I did a good job. This is the same Leila that will also throw a tantrum about ice cream, but in fairness, we had a pretty detailed conversation about our trip and the importance of it. This was a test run for us and that if she was unable to travel and sit through the not so entertaining parts of the trip, we would likely be unable to make other similar trips.
Leila and I both know very little Korean but managed a correct pronunciation of “thank you” before we departed. Leila’s social personality makes her an ideal traveler. She is often meeting children on the train, in the park, or any public place when she is in her element. When she’s tired, we have to completely shut down our schedule for the day until she recuperates. The weather is 20 degrees Fahrenheit cooler in Korea, and on Saturday morning,we woke up to snow. Leila has expressed her love of the seasons and when I mentioned that she would likely not see snow in Taipei, she was really upset, so to wake up to this surprise in Seoul made her day. We visited, the Thanksgiving weekend (which is not celebrated outside of the U.S.), but obviously a very important holiday on our calendar – a time to be with family and friends. Seoul has a different look and feel than Taipei. There are several shopping malls. The building feel intentional and the historic spaces are given space to breathe from the more contemporary architecture.
Life in Taipei
The scale of Taiwan is comparable to the size of the state of Indiana. Within two hour flight time North, you could potentially be in Japan or Korea. A two hour flight south places you in the Philippines. Directly West of Taiwan is Mainland China and Hong Kong is also a 2 hour flight just East of Taiwan. Taiwan is also an ideal location for visiting other countries in Asia relatively quickly. The closest flight from the United States, is an 8 hour trip from Hawaii. Flights within the region are from $100- $300 US dollars. Leila and I have taken several trips in Taiwan beyond Taipei, but this is our first time outside of Taiwan. We have more trips to come and we are so fortunate to have friends and family throughout the region.