Untold Stories: The Other Korea

Abstract

This thesis explores the dialectical tensions, ironies, and myths of North Korea, with the hope of exposing fallacies and bringing awareness to the crisis of the oppressed citizens of this hermetic country. There are discrepancies between the North Korea that most people know, and one that is lesser known, which contains the everyday stories of real people. The goal is to design a cultural landscape containing the narratives of the persecuted in an effort to promote understanding about a country that is largely misinterpreted because of the images the Kim dictatorship and international media have planted in the minds of many people. The architecture provides a ground for commentary on the truth and what can be done to change the current state of apathy, ignorance, and helplessness. Acts of violation against humanity that continue in North Korea must be stopped. The fact that the North and South must reunite to save the citizens of North Korea is a pressing issue that the South Koreans must genuinely want in order to create change. Gathering information about Korea's history and attributes of the proposed site will reveal how time changes space, the way our memories and ideas are both temporal and timeless as they are exchanged. When we become more aware of the issues at large, it will change our indifference and help us react to the stories that are told.