Since modernization in South Korea, architecture has been an important medium of communication in the socialrealm: a representation of the Korean identity, an expression of singularity, authority, a self-establishment of learned modernism,or a proposal for high-density urban living. Focusing on the communicative role of architecture, this paper attempts to explorethe languages of Monolith and Fragments as a strategy of outward expression. The representation of monolith –a singularwhole- or fragments –assemblage of parts- is not merely a physical and visual strategy for the public image of architecture,but can also be an effective solution to conditions such as a complex urban setting, confrontation with constraints, and limitedtechnology and budget. Although there have been a diversified use of representational strategies in modern and contemporarypractice in Korea, and recent projects tend to emphasize their outward aspects, domestic architectural discourses have focusedmore on conceptual rather than concrete aspects. Even studies on architectural expression were limited to particular architectsor styles. This study aims to classify architectural languages of parts and whole as representational strategies between monolithand fragments, and discuss the specific implementation of strategies and their confluence with the Korean context. The paper istwofold: First, it develops taxonomies of the representational strategies of architecture based on the relevant theories. It furtherspecifies the physical, perceptible languages of each strategy by analyzing buildings, including award-winning projects in Koreaand influential foreign projects. Second, it analyzes the context and the application of representational strategies in Korea,focusing on three projects completed between the 1990s and 2010s. The methodology suggested for understandingrepresentational strategy would be applicable to analyzing architecture more inclusively across the borders of heterogeneous‘-isms’ and styles. Further investigations in a broader time frame and spectrum of architects could provide manifold discussionsin representational strategies in Korean architecture.
Since modernization in South Korea, architecture has been an important medium of communication in the socialrealm: a representation of the Korean identity, an expression of singularity, authority, a self-establishment of learned modernism,or a proposal for high-density urban living. Focusing on the communicative role of architecture, this paper attempts to explorethe languages of Monolith and Fragments as a strategy of outward expression. The representation of monolith –a singularwhole- or fragments –assemblage of parts- is not merely a physical and visual strategy for the public image of architecture,but can also be an effective solution to conditions such as a complex urban setting, confrontation with constraints, and limitedtechnology and budget. Although there have been a diversified use of representational strategies in modern and contemporarypractice in Korea, and recent projects tend to emphasize their outward aspects, domestic architectural discourses have focusedmore on conceptual rather than concrete aspects. Even studies on architectural expression were limited to particular architectsor styles. This study aims to classify architectural languages of parts and whole as representational strategies between monolithand fragments, and discuss the specific implementation of strategies and their confluence with the Korean context. The paper istwofold: First, it develops taxonomies of the representational strategies of architecture based on the relevant theories. It furtherspecifies the physical, perceptible languages of each strategy by analyzing buildings, including award-winning projects in Koreaand influential foreign projects. Second, it analyzes the context and the application of representational strategies in Korea,focusing on three projects completed between the 1990s and 2012s. The methodology suggested for understandingrepresentational strategy would be applicable to analyzing architecture more inclusively across the borders of heterogeneous‘-isms’ and styles. Further investigations in a broader time frame and spectrum of architects could provide manifold discussionsin representational strategies in Korean architecture.