Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to accept entries from August 28 to September 1
‘Hanok Meets Contemporary Architecture’ — a future-oriented hanok through convergence
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Minister Kim Hyun-mi) is holding the ‘2020 Korea Hanok Design Competition’ to discover the excellence of hanok and explore new possibilities for its development. The competition is hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, organized by the Architecture & Urban Research Institute (National Hanok Center), and sponsored by the Presidential Commission on Architecture Policy and the Korea Land & Housing Corporation.
First held in 2011 and now in its 10th year, the Korea Hanok Design Competition is Korea’s most prestigious competition in the hanok field, seeking ways to diversify and modernize hanok architecture and to rediscover the value of hanok. Held each year under a different theme, the competition has over the past decade received a total of 5,286 valuable ideas from a wide range of age groups and social backgrounds, including teenagers, university students, and the general public.
The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Hanok Meets Contemporary Architecture.’ It was chosen with the aim of generating ideas for a future-oriented hanok that moves beyond the past focus on reproducing hanok forms and materials to converge with contemporary architecture in diverse ways. Convergence aims to freely realize materials, technologies, structures, spaces, styles, proportions, and more, centered on identity. There are no restrictions on use or scale, and the emphasis is on imbuing contemporary architecture with the identity of hanok.
That said, in consideration of sustainability and the future global environment, the large-scale use of timber is encouraged, and the structural performance as well as the environmental and residential performance required in contemporary architecture must be secured. At the same time, unlike contemporary timber construction or contemporary architecture, the identity of hanok or Korean architecture must be visibly expressed. There are no restrictions on the elements of identity or the scope of their application.
In addition to the completed-work, planning, and photography categories, this year’s competition introduces a new video category that allows the beauty and excellence of hanok to be expressed from diverse perspectives, for a total of four categories.
▲In the Completed-Work category, hanok completed within the past five years are eligible, and any building owner, designer, builder, or master carpenter of the hanok may enter. ▲The Planning category is open to teams (up to four members) or individuals, and in keeping with the theme ‘Hanok Meets Contemporary Architecture,’ entrants may freely present ideas for a new hanok that embraces changing social needs while retaining cultural identity. ▲The Photography and Video categories accept entries separately from the general public and from teenagers, seeking works that capture, through an original perspective, the beauty of hanok and the meaning and value of hanok found in everyday life.
Entries will be accepted over five days, from August 28 to September 1, and the final winning works are scheduled to be selected and announced around October. The winning works will be made public through the Korea Hanok Design Competition website and an exhibition.
The grand-prize winners in each category — completed work, planning, photography, and video — will receive the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Award, along with a special award (Chairperson of the Presidential Commission on Architecture Policy Award) and the main prizes in three categories, with total prize money of 51 million won. Detailed information, including the purpose of the competition, the schedule, the submission guidelines, and how to participate, can be found directly on the Korea Hanok Design Competition website.
Kim Sang-moon, Director-General for Architecture Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “Through this competition, an open forum for participation by all citizens, we expect that outstanding examples of our hanok will be presented along with a higher-level model for the development of hanok,” adding, “We plan to reflect in policy the opinions of the public embodied in the winning works.”