OVERVIEW

THIS SERIES HAS BEEN AWARDED 1ST PRIZE FOR THE ACCLAIMED EUROPEAN PRIZE OF ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN 2011.
NOT ONLY SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA ITSELF IS A HIGHLY URBANIZED COUNTRY. AROUND 80% OF ITS POPULATION IS LIVING IN URBAN AREAS. DUE TO URBAN SPACE GROWING TOGETHER ON A LARGE SCALE, THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF A COMPACT CITY NEEDS TO BE REDEFINED. LANDSCAPE BECOMES INDISPENSABLY URBANISED, THROUGH THE LOSS OF BORDERS BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL SPACE. THE MASSIVE SUBURBANISATION OF THE CITIES' PERIPHERIES NOT ONLY EXTENDED THE CITY’S SCALE, BUT ALSO TURNED THE FORMER RURAL NEITHER INTO SOMETHING REALLY URBAN, NOR INTO SOMETHING, WHICH CAN BE DEFINED AS MERELY RURAL ANYMORE. THE LOSS OF THE RURAL IMPLIES ALSO A LOSS OF THE CITY IN ITS CENTRALIZED ARRANGEMENT. THE CITY ITSELF IS FLOWING OUT INTO THE NEW RURAL-URBAN SPACE.
URBANNATURE IS A PERSONAL PROJECT THAT I TOOK AS A PHOTOGRAPHER IN AND AROUND SEOUL AND OTHER PARTS OF SOUTH KOREA. THE PROJECT BROACHES THE ISSUE OF THE DISAPPEARING RURAL AND IT'S ARCHITECTURAL AFTERMATH. ACCOMPANIED BY THE MASSIVE LOSS OF THE RURAL, ONE CAN FIND A RISING NUMBER OF RURAL IMAGERY BEING ATTACHED TO BUILDING FACADES WITHIN THE ENDLESS BOUNDARIES OF THE SEOUL CITY SPACE.