Week 3

This past week has been a bit more academic-focused, as we just concluded our midterm presentations of the first of two assignments for the semester. Our assignment is, generally speaking, to conduct an analysis of the Eulj-ro neighborhood of Seoul and design a small-scale intervention for the area that responds to some of the conditions we identify through our analysis. The midterm was largely focused on the analysis portion, so I have spent much of my time—especially this week leading up to the presentation—exploring Eulji-ro in order to take a position about the neighborhood. What my partners and I have concluded is that, as a result of the self-planning organization that permeates the structures of the area, all of the objects on the street/attached to the facades of the small buildings represent a single tectonic expression of a larger network of objects and relationships, a “hyper-object.” This exploration has positioned me deep within the fabric of the area, learning about the customs, economic systems, gender norms, and more. Aside from school, I also visited the de-militarization zone between North and South Korea, an experience that opened my eyes to the proximity between the luxuries and afflictions of the two very different countries.