City: Hall

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Apr 12, 2015

(Jeong Jae-eun, South Korea, 2013)

Seattle premiere!
Co-presented with Civilization
Introduction by Robert Miller, BCJ

In City: Hall, Jeong (responsible for the coming-of-age masterpiece Take Care of My Cat, 2001 and the fascinating urban youth film The Aggressives, 2005), takes on the eponymous edifice, under construction since May 2008 and finally finished in September 2012. 

Seoul’s City Hall turned out to be one of the most controversial buildings ever erected in a city that has withstood countless acts of destruction and reconstruction—first by an arrogant colonial power, and later by a devastating global war and several military dictatorships hell-bent on splashing the markers of compressed modernity on its face. 

The new city hall, designed by renowned architect Yoo Kerl, became controversial not in the least because its appearance was shockingly futuristic, especially in contrast with the old city hall built in the colonial period (now to be preserved as the metropolitan library). Your own impression upon seeing the former under construction for the first time may be something along the lines of a "glass-eyed Cyclops reclining on a space-alien's gargantuan metal cot, lazily letting Ulysses' crew crawl all over its massive body."

 

 

About Robert E. Miller, FAIA, LEED AP

Principal, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Robert’s life long interests in social issues, alternative construction, renewable energy, and industrial design are reflected in his holistic approach to architecture. He believes strongly that thoughtful innovation and integration are the future of successful sustainable design.

Robert has championed both sustainable design practices and regional sensitivity throughout the office’s work including Pacific Rim Estate, Waipolu Gallery and Studio, Ballard Library, Soma Bellevue Towers, Seattle City Hall and the Pearl Hill Visitor Center in China. A line of “green” furniture, designed by Robert, was patented and incorporated in the Ballard Library. Robert also explored modern machining techniques to inform the design of a series of architectural hardware currently being marketed through www.reveal-designs.com.

 

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