SPACE August 2023 (No. 669)
Installation view of model for Soundscape plan / Image courtesy of SUUM
‘Heatherwick Studio: Building Soulfulness’, an exhibition of Thomas Heatherwick’s representative works, is on view at Culture Station Seoul 284 until Sep. 6. The studio’s work has spanned a wide range of fields and scales, from small craft objects to buildings and urban surroundings. This exhibition highlights the studio’s expansive practice under the keyword ‘soulfulness’. Heatherwick said that ‘our emotions come from experiencing small details,’ at a press conference prior to the opening. He reiterated the importance of soulfulness once again by citing ‘human touch’, those things which people can actually touch and feel, as one of the languages that runs through his projects. Some of the projects on display include Pacific Place in Hong Kong, which was meticulously designed by attending to small details such as handrails, buttons, and restrooms that are so often overlooked in larger projects. Moreover, there is an opportunity to see the Routemaster Bus, which was a redesign of London’s double-decker buses to make them more user-friendly, as well as examples of extensible furniture that changes according to user needs. The work on display demonstrates Heatherwick Studio’s commitment to cultivating and preserving a sense of ‘human touch’ across disciplinary fields and scales. Meanwhile, ‘Heatherwick Studio: Building Soulfulness’, which was previously on view at the Mori Art Museum in Japan in Mar., will also feature the Nodeul Island Soundscape plan and The Core, an art museum in Gangwon-do. In total, the exhibition will feature 30 works, including two projects added for the exhibition in Seoul. by Jo Beomhee
