Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design (대한건축학회논문집:계획계)

Architectural Institute of Korea (대한건축학회)
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The Birth of Modern Joseon Architecture - Pyongyang Grand Theater and Socialist Realism in North Korean Architecture -

현대 조선식 건축의 탄생 - 평양 대극장 건설과 북한의 사회주의 리얼리즘 건축 -

  • Park, Dongmin (Department of Architecture & Architectural Engineering, Seoul National University)
  • Received : 2018.07.04
  • Accepted : 2018.10.10
  • Published : 2018.10.30
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Abstract

In the late 1950s, departing from their unquestioning following of Soviet architecture, North Koreans attempted to discover the specificities of traditional Korean architecture and apply them to their contemporary monuments. This paper examines the ways in which North Korean architects developed their unique version of Socialist realism in the making of Pyongyang Grand Theater. The traditional elements in harmony with North Korea's political ideology-an early form of Juche ideology-and modern building technologies were to be viewed as contemporary elements, and not as a simple revival of the past. This study applies Socialist realism's compositional principle "national in form and socialist in content" to Pyongyang Grand Theater and examines specifically what "socialist content" and "national form" were and how the two were combined in the construction of Pyongyang Grand Theater. By situating the building in the context of localization of Socialist realism which is universal art principle of the communist world, this study contributes to the deeper and wider understanding of North Korea's Modern Joseon Architecture.

Keywords

References

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