Drawing Namgu

Drawing in light the history and memories that made present-day Namgu possible.

CLIENT

Gwangju Design Promotion Institute · Nam-gu Office, Gwangju

TYPE · YEAR

Media Façade

2021

Drawing Namgu retraces the places and histories of Namgu, Gwangju. Architecture emerges through drawing; historical images become luminous outlines. The journey returns to the colours and everyday objects of Penguin Village.

What history made the life we enjoy today possible?

01 · Drawing a place

00:20 · A hand drawing the roof of Choi Seung-hyo House

00:20 · LINE

00:28 · Columns and window frames of Choi Seung-hyo House revealed in lines

00:28 · FORM

00:36 · COLOUR

Choi Seung-hyo House in Yangnim-dong takes shape through line, form and colour. Local accounts tell of independence activists sheltered in its attic. Drawing the building becomes a way into the time and memory held by a place.

02 · Places hold memory

00:56 · Wilson Missionary Residence, Yangnim-dong

From the Wilson Missionary Residence, the work moves toward the people connected to Yangnim-dong. The March 10, 1919 independence demonstration in Gwangju included teachers and students of Speer Girls’ School. Architecture opens onto collective memory.

01:16 · March 10 demonstration · Speer Girls’ School

03 · From image to light

The flags carried by the crowd return as luminous signs. As detail recedes, outlines carry the image forward: a passage from historical memory to light.

01:36 · LIGHT

01:57 · Completed outlines of the demonstration scene

01:57 · TRACE · April 19 Revolution

The demonstration sequence evokes the April 19 Revolution through the demand to hold the fraudulent election again. Its drawn contours reconnect the image with voices calling for democracy.

04 · Drawing memory in light

02:13.8 · Completed line drawing of the Gwangju Student Independence Movement Memorial Tower

02:13.8 · Gwangju Student Independence Movement Memorial Tower

The Gwangju Student Independence Movement Memorial Tower commemorates the student movement of 1929. Its solid form is redrawn in light — a temporary trace of a lasting memory.

05 · Returning to the present

Expanding the story into everyday objects

02:53 · PRESENT · Penguin Village

Colour returns through Penguin Village’s clocks, everyday objects and penguin figures. After the historical images and monuments, these familiar things bring the work into the present. The opening question remains.

Project Information

Year: 2021
Discipline: Media Façade
Organizers: Chosun University LINC+ · Gwangju Design Promotion Institute · Nam-gu Office, Gwangju
Award: Grand Prize, 2021 Media Façade Content Production Project

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