The influence of the history of western design on the literary works of Siwha Chung

Abstract

Background The 100th anniversary of Bauhaus (1919-1934) in Germany has provided opportunities for books, exhibitions, and symposiums pertaining to the institution. Siwha Chung (born in 1942), who was the first designer in South Korea (hereafter, Korea) to publish literary works in relation to Bauhaus in 1966, started to study the institution's design education in light of the poor quality of design education in Korea in the 1960s. As an educator of design for forty years, Chung studied not only Bauhaus but the themes in the history of Western design. This paper studies Chung's literary works relating to design to learn about the focus of his study of the history of Western design and how it influenced his work. Methods This research was carried out by reviewing literature and conducting interviews. First, this paper analyzes Chung's 99 articles relating to the design history and theory that were published from 1966 to 2007. The articles have been studied in terms of his periodic works relating to design, types of publications, themes, and characteristics. Such analysis sheds light on the themes in the history of Western design that influenced Chung's literary works. The interviews with Chung also help cast light on the realities of South Korean (hereafter, Korean) design during the time his literary works were published, and his views of that time. Results This paper shows that most of Chung's literary works on design were completed between the late 1960s, when he first started teaching at universities, and the mid-1970s, when he returned to Korea and worked as a professor at Kookmin University after completing his studies in Denmark. During this time, most of Chung's articles were published in specialized magazines in such fields as design, architecture, and art. Since the 1980s, the dissertations of Chung were published in Kookmin University's Design Review on a regular basis. Chung's papers covered not only graphic design, industrial design and crafts but also addressed Korean design and Western design with a focus on design history, design education, and design policy. Bauhaus's design education, Herbert Read's design theory, and Den Permanente in Denmark are a few examples of Chung's fields of interest in the themes in the history of Western design. Conclusions Chung believed that by studying the history of Western design, he could contribute to the development of Korean design. He looked forward to seeing Korean design develop from applied arts to independent modern design with a unique identity. His literary works should not only be regarded as an individual achievement, but as a source of valuable insight into the history of Korean design as it provides historical evidence for how the early Korean designers viewed the issues of Korean design in light of the development of Western design.