In 2014, the Korean Pavilion at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale presented “Crow’s Eye View: The Korean Peninsula.” The exhibition achieved several notable “firsts.” It was the first to feature both South and North Korea, the first to fulfill the pavilion’s long-held aspiration of representing the whole peninsula, and of course, the first to win the Golden Lion. Despite the “admittedly South Korean view,” as noted by Minsuk Cho—commissioner of the pavilion run by a South Korean government organization—the exhibition successfully staged an unforeseen total picture of two Koreas in the remote, seemingly uncharged location of Venice, Italy. 

“Fundamentals,” one of the most debated architecture biennales directed by Rem Koolhaas, not only enabled this gathering of Korean histories under the theme “Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014,” but facilitated a symbolic cultural reunification. It was undeniably an “amazing” moment as Koolhaas himself expressed with intrigue. Indeed, the idea of displaying architecture under two different ideological stances of capitalism and socialism side by side was striking. The rare, saturated, bold drawings of North Korean architects’ visions for future cities, presented in one of the four subsections, “Utopian Tours,” contributed to the pavilion’s vibrant image, which compensated for the then-perceived lightness and vulnerability of the architecture as an exhibition venue. 

This show might still astonish people if displayed again. Yet, reflecting on the decade since these “firsts,” questions previously overshadowed by its initial glory can now be reconsidered: Did it provide fruitful perspectives on the supposed slow disappearance of national features because of modernism and globalization as Koolhaas had theorized? Was it “fundamentally” about architecture? There have been no “seconds.” Perhaps because the hope this show inspired was enough. Bringing the two Koreas to the forefront was, as Cho stated, a logical choice given the context and timeframe. Yet, as an ostensible spectacle this extra-territorial locality has dissipated, becoming a lost moment in history.

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