The Cass, London Metropolitan University announces ‘Out of the Ordinary: Award-Winning Works by Young Korean Architects’, a major architecture exhibition, taking place from 6 to 28 February at The Cass Bank Gallery in Aldgate East.

The work of nine winners of the Korean Young Architect Awards, one of Korea’s most coveted awards, will be on display, for the first time in London.

Curated by Hyungmin Pai, Golden-Lion winner at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014, and a former visiting scholar at The Cass, the show explores the recent radical changes to Korea’s built environment, and looks at how young practices adapt to new challenges with unconventional solutions.

Projects by Chae Pereira Architects, Joho Architecture, JYA-RCHITECTS, Wise Architecture, UTAA Company, D·Lim architects, Lokaldesign, IAEO Architekten, and Oujae Architects have all been chosen for their careful and innovative approach, concerned with sustainable, mindful architecture. Ranging from small urban interventions to major master plans, the projects selected for ‘Out of the Ordinary’ delve deep in to topical issues of Korean architecture today.

Material experimentation with both high-tech and traditional, local production; the emergence of new kinds of client groups and projects, combining both private and institutional commissions; architectural invention within extreme limitations of resources – are all key themes explored in the exhibition at The Cass, designed in collaboration with London-based Gatti Rhodes Architects.

Presented through a combination of photographs, architectural models, and full-scale details, these projects reveal a new aspect of contemporary Korean architecture, where inventiveness and resourcefulness play a key role.

Alongside this body of work, a selection of specially commissioned artworks by renowned photographers Kyungsub Shin and Thierry Sauvage further captures the wider physical and social context, giving an overview on Korea’s remarkable architectural environment.

This is Hyungmin Pai’s first international exhibition after his winning pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2014. He says:

The global financial crisis has had a deep impact on Korean architecture; the conditions of architectural practices have changed fundamentally and radically. ‘Out of the Ordinary’ analyses the new ecology of Korean architecture, and the strategies and methods of nine innovative young architectural practices. Though opportunities for conventional, commercial, public, and institutional projects are no longer ample, new kinds of clients and projects have come on the scene. We want to explore and celebrate the new creativity emerging from projects that are socially relevant, but extremely constrained in budget and space. Working without precedents, these young practices are changing the very nature of contemporary Korean architecture.

Out of the Ordinary: Award Winning Works by Young Korean Architects runs at the Cass Bank gallery, from 6 February to 28 February 2015. www.thecass.com

Listings

Where: The Cass Bank Gallery, Central House
When: 6th February – 28 February 2015
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 11-5
Nearest Station: Aldgate East
How much: Free
Get involved: @TheCassArt #casskorea

With the support of

Official Hosts: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea
Arts Council Korea (ARKO)
Organisers: Korean Architects Institute (KAI)
Partners: London Metropolitan University, British Council and British Council Korea

Contacts

For press information and images please contact the Cass team at Caro Communications:

Marta Bogna, Account Director
Rachael Jones, Account Executive

T: +44 (0)20 7713 9388
E: marta@carocommunications.com / rachael@carocommunications.com
W: www.carocommunications.com / @carocomms

Notes to Editors

Korean Young Architect Awards
Starting with “Megacity Network: Contemporary Korean Architecture” (Frankfurt, Germany, 2007) the Korean Architects Institute (KAI) has hosted and organised a series of International exhibitions on Korean contemporary architecture. Annually hosted and supported by Korea’s Ministry of Culture, a new exhibition has found audiences in Berlin, Barcelona, Shanghai, Yokohama, Paris, before London.  ‘Out of the Ordinary: Award-winning Works by Young Korean Architects’ is the fifth instalment of this exhibition series, and presents the work of nine architects selected from the awardees of Korea’s Young Architect Awards. Since 2008, the award, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and organized by the Korean Institute of Architects and Korean Institute of Female Architects, has supported awardees with publications and exhibitions.

The Cass
The Cass is the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University.  It is one of four faculties within the University. The Cass teaches about 2500 students at Foundation, Degree and Postgraduate level at two buildings in Aldgate. Subjects include Animation, Architecture, Film Production, Fine Art, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Illustration, Interior Design, Jewellery, Music Technology, Musical Instrument Making, Photography, Product Design and Textiles. The Faculty also offers 200 short and professional development courses. There is a strong emphasis across the studios on socially engaged Architecture, Art and Design applied to both local and global contexts, a Faculty-wide interest in making and many projects focus on aspects of London. Students at The Cass are encouraged to learn through practice, experiment with process and gain real-world experience in both individual and collaborative projects, engaging with professionals, communities and companies.

The Cass has long established links with Korean Architecture and Architectural Education. Hyungmin Pai, Professor at the University of Seoul, was previously a visiting scholar at The Cass. Florian Beigel and the Architecture Research Unit (ARU) at the Faculty have worked and are working on many high profile projects in South Korea including Seowonmoon Lantern, Urban Folly, Gwangju Design Biennale 2011, YoulHwaDang Book Hall, Paju Book City (2009) and Saemangeum Island City (2008). The School of Architecture helped establish the RIBA Part 2 Professional Diploma course at the Korean National University of the Arts, Seoul, (K-ARTS) with whom project collaborations and exchanges continue.