SPACE May 2026 (No. 702)
NAVER Data Center GAK Sejong ©Jang Mi
A Self Portrait in the Age of Climate Crisis
The 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change aimed to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial levels. However, nearly a decade later, the rise in global average temperature has already approached 1.5°C and, given the accelerating rate of warming in recent years, it is projected to exceed 3°C by the end of the century. The reason 1.5°C was the primary goal, and a symbolic figure in the Agreement on Climate Change, is that it represents the last line of defence for humanity and ecosystems against catastrophe. If the global average temperature were to rise by 1.5°C, arctic glacier and permafrost would melt, releasing methane, marine ecosystems would begin to collapse, and extreme climatic phenomena would occur more frequently. Unfortunately, however, the reality that we face today is not 1.5°C, but 3°C. If the global average temperature were to rise by 3°C, urban civilisations and agricultural would begin to collapse regionally due to food and water crises, rising sea levels and deadly heatwaves. The number of climate refugees would surge to as many as 1 billion, leading to inter-state conflicts, armed clashes, riots, and severe social unrest. While this may seem like a distant prospect, the ‘Korean Climate Change Assessment Report 2020’, published by the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, suggests that, under a worst-case scenario of continued fossil fuel-based growth strategies, the average temperature rise in our country could reach 3°C by around 2050. I do not wish to imagine this, but if the temperature rise exceeds 4°C, the collapse of human civilisation would begin on a global scale. While 3°C may seem like an exaggeration spread by environmental activists, the U.S.–Iran war that began in late February has once again highlighted the vulnerabilities of our nation’s economy and national security, which have grown as a result of our reliance on global capitalist markets, fossil fuels, and overseas natural resources. The consequences extend far beyond mere inconveniences to daily life or an economic crisis. Despite the national crisis, the cornering of petroleum and chemical raw materials, and the panic buying of trash bags that occurred, revealed the spiritual poverty of our society—a society in which a sense of community has disappeared, leaving people unable to respond collectively or show solidarity in times of crisis. Instead, people seek only to fend for themselves. If, in the face of the looming massive climate, ecological, and environmental crises, the people lose trust in the government, which holds public authority, and if citizens lose the spirit of caritas – the generous love that citizens refer to as civic ethics – and if communities lose their autonomy and the wisdom of coexistence, becoming powerless, where will we find the clues to survival and hope for the future?
NAVER Data Center GAK Sejong ©Jang Mi
At this juncture, it is both timely and of great social significance that Junglim Architecture, a leading large architectural firm in our country, has declared sustainability to be at the core of its future strategies and presented nine concrete action plans. Since its establishment in 1967, the firm has made a significant contribution to economic growth and urban environmental improvement within the framework of a developing nation. During the neoliberal era, the firm propelled architecture into a global service industry through large-scale organisational design, the accumulation of cutting-edge technology, and branding. The fact that Junglim Architecture is now preparing for yet another transformation evidences the demands and needs of our time – namely sustainability and responding to the climate crisis – and stresses the shift from the periphery to the centre of society. In our country, from the 2000s onwards, in line with government policies, in-house organisations dedicated to eco-friendly architectural design, as well as research and development, began to emerge, primarily within large architectural firms. However, the focus at that time was largely on administrative tasks, such as obtaining eco-friendly building certifications or preparing energy-saving plans, or technical approaches centred on applying the technology of eco-friendly elements and improving energy performance. While quantitative environmental analysis using digital simulation began to be introduced, a positivist bias – the belief that all phenomena can be explained by numbers – and blind faith in numerical data also emerged. The field was still in its infancy in terms of combining data with qualitative elements such as human emotions, intentions, and creative capabilities in order to develop a precise design vocabulary. More importantly, the architectural community failed to actively contemplate the ecological potential, social significance and ontological shifts inherent in sustainability. Rather than charting its own course for transformation, the community became fixated solely on superficial problem-solving.
Aerial view of National Museum Complex ©Song Youngjoon
Interior views of National Children’s Museum
Architectural Practice Viewed Through the Lens of Three Ecologies
Félix Guattari, a passionate ecologist in the 1980s who laid the theoretical foundations for the ecological movement and, as a member of the Green Party, was a hands-on activist at the forefront of climate politics, wrote a book entitled The Three Ecologies (Les trois écologies) in 1989. He was concerned that ecologism should not be limited to the protection of nature or asceticism that appeals to individual morality, as argued by the liberal right; yet, simultaneously, he challenged the reductionist thinking of the socialist left, who posited that, since predatory capitalism with its pursuit of profit maximisation and infinite growth was the root cause of ecological problems, reforming labour, production and distribution would naturally resolve the myriad issues facing the contemporary world. In an attempt to encompass both the left and right in ethical and political terms, as well as to broaden the horizons of the ecological movement, he proposed an interdependent ecology comprising three levels: mental ecology, social ecology, and environmental ecology. He primarily addressed the issue of uniform and conformist ‘production of subjectivity’ brought about by the development of global capitalism, mass culture, and information and communication technologies in mental ecology; the ‘reconfiguration of fragmented social relations and collective modes of existence’ in social ecology; and the ‘establishment of an interdependent network of relations between humans, technology, and nature’ in environmental ecology. This expanded the discourse of existing ecology philosophy, which had been confined to the category of environmental studies, to encompass the mind and society. He argued that, in order to overcome the ecological crisis facing contemporary society, these three ecologies must be reconfigured simultaneously and transversally. As the concepts of the three ecologies offer insights that are even more relevant today than when they were first published, in an era of worsening climate crises and social divisions, we shall examine the sustainability strategies and projects proposed by Junglim Architecture based on this philosophical framework.
PyeongChang Olympic Stadium ©MobIT
PyeongChang Olympic Stadium
NAVER Data Center GAK Sejong composed elements such as the building’s layout, form and materials in a functional manner to maximise natural ventilation for server cooling and minimise energy and resource consumption. While this was the client’s intention, it is also the result of introducing physical optimisation and verifiable, quantitative assessments. Consequently, although the building conforms to the natural topography with its form gently bending several times, it appears as a monumental structure, consisting of a single, massive, box-like mass rising from the ground. (...)
You can see more information on the SPACE No. May (2026).
Nam Sangmoon
Nam Sangmoon is an architect who reflects upon and researches the ways in which architecture can foster sustainable living and a sustainable society. He believes that the various risks that contemporary society faces, such as the climate crisis, polarisation, urbanisation, and demographic issues, present architects of our time with new challenges. Rather than offering piecemeal technical solutions, he aims to transform ways of life, rethinking physical construction methods and reflecting critically on the intrinsic value of architecture. He runs DAYPLACE and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Architecture at Yonsei University. He is the author of Roofless Architecture (2021) and How to Invite the Birds (2025), and he contributes architectural critiques and articles on urban and environmental issues to various media outlets.
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