Minsuk Cho Surveys Mass Studies with SCI-Arc Channel

Minsuk Cho [Principal Mass Studies] joins SCI-Arc Channel to delve into recent projects including Pixel House, Shanghai Expo 2010: Korean Pavilion, Missing Matrix, and Daum Space.1 in terms of their various identities. Cho discusses the evolution of Mass Studies from 2003 to the present and reflects on his experience co-curating the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale.

Minsuk Cho founded the Seoul-based firm Mass Studies in 2003. He has been committed to the discourse of architecture through sociocultural and urban research, and mostly built works, which have been recognized globally. Representative works include the Pixel House, Missing Matrix, Bundle Matrix, Shanghai Expo 2010: Korea Pavilion, Daum Space.1, Tea Stone/Innisfree, Southcape, Dome-ino, and the Daejeon University Dormitory. Current in-progress projects include the new Seoul Cinematheque (Montage 4:5), the Danginri Cultural Space (Danginri Podium and Promenade), and the Yang-dong District Main Street (Sowol Forest) and the recently selected design for the Yeonhui Public Housing Complex. Active beyond his practice, he co-curated the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale, and was the commissioner and co-curator of the Korean Pavilion for the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, which was awarded the Gold Lion for Best National Participation. In late 2014, PLATEAU Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, held their first ever architecture exhibition, highlighting his works in a solo exhibition titled Before/After: Mass Studies Does Architecture. Cho is an active lecturer and speaker at symposiums worldwide.

The recent challenges confronted by Minsuk Cho and his practice Mass Studies arrive through the many external forces and urban ecologies at play —mainly that of culture and nature. Whether it be within the political, environmental, or social context of the city, its history and future, independent and symbiotic approaches and the crossing of stimuli become the impetus of the various architectural approaches for a series of projects currently in progress. The diverse ‘grounds’ being examined range in scale, use, and context.