SPACE July 2023 (No. 668)
ⓒPark Sungje
Moonyoung Building in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, scheduled to be demolished in two years, has been reborn as a cultural complex by the imported materials distribution brand, the YOUNHYUN Trading Co.,Ltd. (hereinafter YOUNHYUN). Built in 1988, Moonyoung Building has existed across its three decades as a real estate agency, pharmacy, a curtain shop, furniture showroom, and accounting office, prior to designating it for demoliton due to deterioration. The signage ‘EXP: 8 Seasons’, newly installed on an exterior wall that clearly exhibits the age of the building, refers to the expiration date of the eight seasons and represents the life remaining for the building. Over the limited period of two years, YOUNHYUN will present a variety of projects using the four floors of the building. Upon entering the first floor of the building, visitors are welcomed by the café of the creative studio MOTHER, which is sensitively decorated to the point where the old exterior looks even more outdated. Continuing on to the second floor, there is the YOUNHYUN Material Library, which introduces materials from various domestic and foreign brands. The third and fourth floors are used as spaces where various programmes such as exhibitions, markets, and pop-ups can be held through new planning every season. The theme of the first season, planned from May 26 to June 24 is ‘locality’. Region-based brands (teams) are using the nine rooms on the third and fourth floors, which were previously divided into office spaces, as their own pop-up showrooms. In Space B-E, an exhibition space on the third floor operated by YOUNHYUN, the ‘local’ was interpreted as traditional craft and so presents work here by local artisans and craftspeople of Korea. The reason YOUNHYUN pursues such experiments is to explore the possibilities for architecture and space that extend from its materials. From the material of the building and beyond, the future steps of YOUNHYUN will continue to attract attention. by Kim Jia
View of YOUNHYUN Material Library / Images courtesy of YOUNHYUN Trading
Exhibition view of Locality at Space B-E / Image courtesy of YOUNHYUN Trading
