Exhibition view of ‘Jeju-che: The Architecture of Kim Suk Yoon’ ©Yoon Joonhwan
On Feb. 6, the exhibition ‘Jeju-che: The Architecture of Kim Suk Yoon’ opened at the Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art to illuminate the architectural world of Kim Seokyoun (Principal, Architect Kim’s Atelier, covered in SPACE No. 687) who has led the formation and development of Jeju’s architectural culture. While focusing on Jeju-che▼1 as his core architectural concept, providing a means of opening up his oeuvre, the exhibition also showcases the history of Jeju’s architectural culture and its future possibilities. The exhibition features various archival documents, photographs, videos, timelines, and architectural models. It is also meaningful that the museum in which this exhibition is held was designed by Kim himself.
As part of this exhibition, Curator Kim Jihee (Principal, Kim-O Architects) selected an architectural video titled Architecture Entering the Body (2026) that captures the movements of dancers against the backdrop of the Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art. By using the body as a medium, this work introduces a new perspective on architecture. The works of fourteen architectural photographers such as Yoon Joonhwan, Park Youngchae, Chin Hyosook, and Kim Jaekyeong who newly documented Kim’s architecture, occupy a significant part of the exhibition as well. By capturing Kim’s architecture from a contemporary perspective, these photographic works allow the viewers to observe the passage of time that the buildings underwent. The exhibition is not just about Kim’s personal life and his works, however. It also showcases architectural models – that is, reinterpretations of Kim’s public architecture – created by his students, past co-workers, and young architects from Jeju who, with their own unique perspectives, are seeking to discover a new contemporary ‘Jeju-che’. The exhibition is to continue until Mar. 29.
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1 Considering how che (calligraphic style) in the calligraphy world is conceived not just as a form of writing but as a complex whole that encompasses everything about its user to the deeper layers of consciousness, Jeju-che represents a physical constitution that is born out of Jeju’s indigenous environment and history and an embodiment of Jeju’s form made manifest through architecture.
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