Architecture can flourish in the most difficult circumstances

摘要

This issue of the AE was largely prompted by editorial visits to Korea in connection with last autumn's International Union of Architects (UIA) convention, held in Seoul, and that city's inaugural Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, both well attended by international audiences. In neither case did the political context interfere with inspirational lectures, discussions and building visits, yet that context was perhaps the tensest for many decades. The posturing of the North Korean hereditary dictator Kim Jong Un was accompanied by explicit threats to use nuclear weapons. The response from the United States president, rather than the conventional one of talking softly while carrying a big stick, was to make childish boasts of the 'mine-is-bigger-than-yours' variety, while ratcheting up trade sanctions. This unedifying and alarming spectacle no doubt masked more serious discussions, which appear to have resulted in a slight thaw in relationships between north and south, with an agreement that North Korea will be represented at the Winter Olympics taking place in the South. One can only recall Churchill's adage that 'jaw-jaw is always better than war-war'.