Architecture as mediation: The Korean pavilion at the Montreal Expo ’67

Abstract

This paper explores the Korean Pavilion at the Montreal Expo ’67 as a mediation of contrastive concepts in modern architecture: tradition and modernity, native and foreign, and preservation and development. This pavilion was built in 1967 as the Korean exhibition hall for the Montreal Expo ’67 in Canada. Designed by Korean architect Swoo-Geun Kim (1931‒1986), it was widely praised to have played a significant role in revealing Korea’s national identity to the world at that time. This pavilion demonstrates the following design intentions: 1) The pavilion tried to mediate between tradition and modernity in Korean architecture. Although the design manifested the aesthetic sense of the Korean traditional housing hanok through applying the hanok’s wooden structure, the designer also reflected on modern architectural concepts through implementing open spaces and irregularly arranged columns in accordance with functions. 2) This pavilion mediates between authentic Korean and Japanese traditional styles. Influenced by his educational background in Japan, Kim drew on his perception of Japanese architecture when designing this pavilion and included Japanese traditional elements. 3) This pavilion mediates between the processes of preservation and development in an urban context, and the preservation issue of this building is still an ongoing debate.