CROSSROADS Building the Resilient City is the title of the next Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021.
Following on the invitation of Seoul mayor, Mr. Park Won-soon, Dominique Perrault was appointed General Director of the third Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021, which will take place from September to November in the South Korean capital. It will be the first global architectural event entirely produced on the aftermath of a pandemic that has altered and questioned the foundations of our modern, technological civilization.
“The Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism occupies a unique place in the landscape of international exhibitions. It is engaged with the theme of urbanism, considering the city of tomorrow as a collective pursuit. This is why today it seems relevant to me to place the third edition under the sign of resilience” says architect Dominique Perrault, General Director of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021
This Biennale will attempt to respond to the complexity of the relationships that shape our cities nowadays and to the pivotal moment that humanity is facing by drafting, thanks to its contributions a manifesto in favor of a more sustainable city. Through a series of exhibitions and events, the SBAU 2021 will open up opportunities for exploring the city of the future.
More than a hundred cities will be invited to participate. “CROSSROADS Building the Resilient City” will build on the accomplishments of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism's previous editions, notably by featuring recurrent cities as well as new ones, thus increasing the number of guest cities to a hundred, from 85 in 2019 and 50 in 2017.
This Biennale will be structured in the form of five figures, referred to as the “Crossroads” which will converge in their intention to promote more responsible, citizen-focused urban growth. These five thematic figures are the starting point for the main exhibition of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021 and for the international call for projects, which will enable the identification of its contributions: Crossroad 1 on urbanism: ABOVE / BELOW, Crossroad 2 on architecture: HERITAGE / MODERN, Crossroad 3 on design: CRAFT / DIGITAL, Crossroad 4 on the landscape: NATURAL / ARTIFICIAL and Crossroad 5 on the city: SAFE / RISK.
International call for projects
The international call for projects runs from 29 May to 31 July 2020.
It will enable identification of the works that will be presented under the framework of the main exhibition of the Seoul Biennale.
Exclusively online, this call for projects is addressed to architects, urbanists and all designers and organizations that contribute to the making of cities and metropolises. Their intention is to gather a set of completed or projected works from some one hundred cities, from around the globe: proposals must explore one of the five announced thematic figures here above.
Proposals will associate the content of the project with a design concept for their space. The key criterion is that it be the application of the proposal for a city, located anywhere in the world, without any size limitations. All projects relevant to the theme of the Biennale and deemed likely to foster and enrich intense societal and/or scientific debate may be selected in order to be displayed under the framework of the Biennale. A broad range of projects can be submitted for consideration: built projects (within the last 10 years) as well as unbuilt, theoretical, academic or even fictional projects.
Based on these contributions, the third edition of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021 will open a vast main exhibition in the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), emblematic building of the city of Seoul, built in 2014 by Zaha Hadid Architects. The epicenter of the Biennale, this vast exhibition will blend immersive spaces with an exhibition design imagined as a chessboard, upon which all the proposals and the 100 cities represented will compose diverse constellations.
Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021 scientific committee
Dominique Perrault is relying on the knowledge and experience of a scientific committee, comprised of experts chosen for their particular approach to their area of intervention in this international exhibition: Andreas Ruby, Critic and curator of the exhibitions, director of the Swiss Architecture Museum (SAM) in Basel, Haewon Shin Architect, exhibition curator of the Korea pavilion at the 2020 Venice Architecture Biennale, Sarah M. Whiting, Architect and critic, professor of architecture at Harvard University, Winy Maas, Architect founder of the MVRDV firm, John Hong, Architect, professor at the University of Seoul, Francis Rambert, Journalist and critic, Director of the Département de la Création architecturale at the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, Miquel Adrià, Architecte, Directeur of the architecture journal Arquine and cultural advisor to the Mayor of Mexico City, Farrokh Derakshani, Architect, Director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Yoonhie Lee, Architect, professor in the Architecture Department of Ewha Womans University, Seoul and Barry Bergdoll, Historian, specialist of modern architecture, Professor at Columbia University, New York.
Calendar
05.29.2020 Opening for the call for projects – online registration
06.30.2020 End of online registration
07.31.2020 Deadline for applications
August / September 2020 Process of selection
October 2020 Announcement of selected teams
Sept. / November 2021 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021
More info: www.seoulbiennale.org
