Perpetual Spring
Architecture and Heritage: Unearthing Future
Last year, the 50th anniversary of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) coincided with several anniversaries: the centenary of the Korean Provisional Government (established in Shanghai on April 11, 1919) and the 100th anniversary of Emperor Gojong’s death. To commemorate his spirit of innovative urban planning of modern Seoul, the MMCA’s program ‘Architecture and Heritage: Unearthing Future’ connects outdoor spaces in the city center. Commissioned architects are given a platform to reflect upon Seoul’s modern heritage and issues facing urban life today and in the future.
The Perpetual Spring Pavilion, designed by Obra Architects in collaboration with Front Inc., ObraAbim and Gami Design Lab, occupies the museum forecourt from 21st September 2019 to 5th April 2020. It is an installation that artificially perpetuates, into the fall and winter, the spring weather that encourages human interaction and community organization: clear skies, pleasant temperatures and abundant flowering greenery. These conditions are seen as ‘propitious to progressive social change’.
‘Climate correcting machine’ as architectural prototype for urban community gathering
Perpetual Spring is both concrete and abstract machine: it is a place where the real parameters of a weather gone awry can be tweaked, physically and symbolically. Faced with a future fixated on individualism, it represents a popular effort to create an alternative meta-technology, showcasing the functional aspects of urban community gathering by means of an artificially-controlled greenhouse. Combining form and destination with function, the pavilion is a platform for awareness and an invitation to action.
As if it were the head of some giant insect, the pavilion has 150 polycarbonate plastic semi-spherical “eyes”, 90 cm in diameter. These crystalline luminous eyes separate interior and exterior, allowing sunshine to illuminate and warm the interior.
The pavilion is fitted with a variable climate control system, including photovoltaic panels on the museum’s nearby roof, which power automatic exhaust fans, aluminum foil curtains and a phase-change radiant floor heating system to stabilize interior temperatures and preserve the permanent spring weather. A specially designed garden grows during the fall and winter months, while an audio-visual display informs visitors about climatic and environmental data on a global scale.
A demonstration project
This unique experimental installation – a combined work of architecture, art, technology, engineering and social impact – focuses public attention on issues surrounding the city, the environment and the future.
Creating a space of truly free public expression is already a radical way of questioning how the city is reproduced and expanded today. As such, the pavilion will serve as a free public space, gifted to the city of Seoul by the MMCA. The open-access venue will be used for theater, music, dance, discussion groups and book clubs, as well offering shelter in bad weather. Invited guests will give talks on the intersection between the global climate crisis, the future of authentic democratic rule and universal justice.
Project: Perpetual Spring / Location: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul / Design team: Obra Architects (Pablo Castro, Jennifer Lee, Jinkyung Cho, Lianyuan Ye, Margherita Tommasi, Danchu Cho, Yifan Deng, Alejandra Ahrend, Ruby Kang, Song Gan; Front Inc. (Michael Ra, Hwan Kim); Obra Abim (Hojoong Kim, Anna Na; Moohan Global – Sang Jun Kim); Mahadev Raman, Arup, Princeton University; Dongsimwon Landscape & Design Construction Co. (Gye Dong Ahn, Namjin Lee); Supermass Studio, Taewook Cha; Alan Woo; O-un / Exhibition: 2019.9~2020.4 / Photograph: courtesy of the architect
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