Architecture: Meeting Citizens And Art

      For the international art community, the biggest news in the first half of this year was the announcement of the fritz Art Expo that it would hold the first "Friede Seoul" in 2022 in cooperation with the Korea Gallery Association. Seoul has become the fourth city after London, New York and Los Angeles for Fritz art fair, and it is also the base of its march into Asia.

The territory of South Korea is about the same as that of Jiangsu Province in China. Although the art market is not large, about five or six years ago, with the boom of dansaekhwa in South Korea and the works of a number of important artists were discovered, South Korea and its art began to attract wide attention from the international art community. In the past five years, foreign blue chip art dealers have set up beachhead positions in Seoul. In China, about 500 exhibitions or art related projects are held every year in South Korea. The number of local artists' groups and local art museums is also growing. The development of Korean art ecology is diverse and prosperous.

The vigorous growth of folk power

In South Korea, the phenomenon of cultural and art sponsorship by private enterprises has been very common.

According to the annual data released by South Korea's Ministry of culture, sports and tourism, the number of national art and exhibition venues has doubled from 127 to 256 from 2008 to 2019. Among them, only a quarter of the art and Museum venues are state-owned, and the rest are mainly sponsored by private funds from enterprises or colleges. On the one hand, it meets the needs of enterprises to fulfill their CSR obligations and improve their corporate image; On the other hand, it can also be converted into a kind of cultural investment to open up a new field of brand competition.

The retail giant Lotte Group has its own art museum in its Lotte World Shopping Center, which opened in 2014. Recently, the Art Museum held a roving exhibition of graffiti master Basquet, which attracted more than 100000 visitors to punch in. Amore Pacific, South Korea's first cosmetics group known for its beauty brand Innisfree, invited British minimalist architect David Chipperfield to design its headquarters in Seoul five years ago. The building also contains a huge art exhibition space.

St International, a South Korean energy company, is also active in the Korean contemporary art world. For the past 32 years, the company has been promoting contemporary art and funding young Korean artists through the song Eun Art & cultural foundation. Recently, st International and the SONGYIN arts and culture foundation announced that their new headquarters, St / Songyin building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, an internationally renowned Swiss architectural firm, will be opened in Seoul on September 30. The exhibition will take the building itself as the main exhibit to lead visitors to explore the new map of Seoul art.

Focus on how to integrate art with people

As the first construction project to be implemented in South Korea, Herzog & de Meuron architects hopes to make the building an important landmark in Seoul. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, two founding partners, are contemporary architects in Switzerland. Since 1978, they co founded the architectural office, and in the decades since then, they have completed a large number of impressive and outstanding architectural works around the world, including Tate Modern Art Museum and Beijing National Stadium known as the "bird's nest".

St / Songyin building is located in the heart of Qingtan cave, one of the busiest commercial and luxury fashion centers in Seoul. The whole building consists of 11 floors on the ground and 5 floors underground, integrating the two main functions of the company office and the foundation's art and culture exhibition space. The most unforgettable is the wedge-shaped appearance of the St / Songyin building. On the side facing the main street, the building is a large vertical facade, with only a few windows "cutting" small holes for a glimpse of the bustling street view; On the other hand, the sloping facade facing the street extends into the garden below with a stepped balcony, which not only introduces natural light and air, but also connects the building closely with the surrounding community.

Talking about the inspiration of architectural simplicity and radical architectural design, Jacques Herzog told 21st century business reporter: "the shape of the appearance is mainly determined by Seoul's unique zoning law. Although we can also present it in a more traditional look, we prefer its special appearance, which is quite different from other office buildings nearby. "

In Korea, the architecture and design of cities need to follow the complex zoning method, which divides a city into residential, commercial and manufacturing areas, and determines the functions and volumes of different buildings in advance. The complex zoning rules result in very different maximum envelope allowed for each plot. The community where the St / Songyin building is located is mainly composed of two and three storey buildings, but the zoning method allows higher floors towards the main street. As a result, this huge triangular building just maximizes the available volume and space potential. Jacques Herzog said: "it's not a traditional office building, but it's big enough to accommodate all kinds of architectural spaces that clients want: art exhibitions, conference rooms, offices, etc. It is a special and attractive space, and the most valuable thing is that it will be open to all people and become a new public space for Seoul citizens to meet with art. "

Concrete is one of the most popular materials in the world in recent years. Coincidentally, the surface of St / Songyin building is also covered by exposed concrete, but in particular, the concrete on its surface is textured by using the template of rotating wooden board, showing a special wooden pattern, which subtly implies the meaning of the foundation's name "Songyin". Jacques Herzog told the 21st century business reporter: "the concrete of the St / Songyin building is exposed, which not only carries the volume of the whole structure, but also defines the temperament of all spaces and their decorative surfaces."

Herzog & de Meuron commented: "our design experience in museums of contemporary art is increasingly focused on how to integrate art and people. How can we create a space for art, artists, collectors and the public? To create a place suitable for people, we must consider various needs. Only in this way can it become a noticeable existence in urban life. " This rising new art landmark in Seoul not only maintains a close and harmonious relationship with the local culture and environment, but also injects a new energy into the cultural geography and diversity of Seoul.

"Art is the key and important clue for our survival"

The second part of the opening exhibition is to celebrate the holding of the 21st SONGYIN Art Award, which is expected to open on December 10 this year, which is one of the most important initiatives and missions of the Songyin art and culture foundation. Songyin is the pseudonym of the founder and former chairman of st International. Since he was a young artist, he has made great efforts to support talented young artists with his own resources after he has achieved commercial success. After his death in 1991, his son Liu Xiangde inherited his will. In memory of his father, Liu Xiangde launched the annual SONGYIN Art Award in 2001. So far, more than 100 young Korean artists have won awards and subsidies through the program.

"We want to emphasize the need and importance of art in contemporary society through this groundbreaking building with culture at its core," said sang duck Yoo, current chairman of st International and the SONGYIN arts and culture foundation. As an architectural firm, Herzog & de Meuron often seeks inspiration from artists. We hope that our architecture can also become a source of inspiration for the community, and let more people pay attention to the potential contemporary artists we strongly support. "

Liu Xiangde, chairman of the board of directors of the 21st century economic report, pointed out that despite the prosperity of the Korean art market, there are only a few living artists who have won international publicity and recognition, and very few young Korean artists are sought after by collectors. "Therefore, Songyin hopes that more Korean artists will actively hold exhibitions at home and abroad and expand their influence with the support from home and abroad.". According to reports, in order to commemorate the opening of the new venue, this year's SONGYIN Art Award has expanded the scope of application, and the artists must be Korean citizens under the age of 45, so as to encourage more new Korean artists to participate. Each of the 20 finalists will be commissioned to create a new work for the exhibition to be held in December. The winner will be selected by the judges and awarded 20 million won (equivalent to 112000 yuan). The winning artists will have the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition in Songyin within two years, and may also participate in the one-year Lanzhi residence project with the Seoul Art Museum.

"Art may not seem as important as the necessities of our body's survival, but we believe that art is the key and important clue to our survival." "As the late founder of the foundation once said," we should not let young artists starve to death. " This sentence is like a compass, guiding the direction of the foundation. But Songyin does not pretend or intend to be the largest, best or most important art institution. We are indeed a very small non-profit foundation with a very limited budget. Nevertheless, we are still eager to play a meaningful role in Korean contemporary art. In the future, we have more to do in supporting Korean artists and making contemporary art more accessible to the public. "