Inside

Minjung Kang – Graduation project 1617

On the Move
A sophisticated O2O service as a methodology to regain the lost values in a
rapidly developing Seoul, South Korea

In South Korea the meaning of public space has evolved tremendously in the last century.
From togetherness and sharing into spaced owned by the government into commercially and
privately owned spaces used by individuals. Depending on its use public spaces are designed
in different ways and the activities taking place has changed over the last decades.

Public squares in Seoul for instance are nowadays mostly used for demonstrations; a river
park is filled up with tents and the owners claim the public space as theirs. Also private indoor
places are rented for social gatherings. I studied a lot of these cases and find one historical
place which connected all different kind of social uses, this is the Madang. This typical
traditional Korean house with an internal courtyard used to be the center of the communal life
where all kind of social gatherings occur, also for outsiders. However, during the course of
time its social function got pushed out from the private domain into the public realm.

In the course of my research I conclude that re-introducing the typology of the Madang can be
an answer to design public space in Seoul that meet the needs of today Korean culture. In
this way the Madang 2.0 will remind how relationships were shaped in the past. In my
proposal I suggest to use the online O2O delivery service as a tool while everyone uses it
frequently and it has the advantage that it is free of charge. It is my aim that this project will
contribute in such a way that the residents will embrace a new identity of Seoul and that it will
create a stronger bridge between the history and the current modern society. Hopefully it will
bring back communal life in public space in modern Seoul.

All images @INSIDE & Minjung Kang

 

Find all images in the Graduation part of INSIDE Magazine 1617.