Vortrag in englischer Sprache von Prof. Seung H-Sang

“The Korean word ‘Tuh-mooni’ combines the words for ‘land’ and ‘script’ (or ‘figure’). To our surprise, this preposterous compound has a very different definition: meaning ‘reason’ or ‘background’. It leads us to the conclusion that the life of our ancestors was deeply involved with the land on which they lived.

There is a great difference between the way westerners create the city and the way the Koreans do. Ideas of western cities depart from an abstract concept, especially if it is aimed to be an idealistic city. The cities of the Renaissance followed a single plan, which consisted of an absolute monarch, surrounded by nobles, drawing a perfect map of hierarchy. To build such a city on the land, it had to be flat, so that they can enclose a fortress with a moat, which gave the city a symbolic form and identity.

Today’s urban planning seems the same. It is nothing but a diagram, which has nothing to do with the land it occupies, it only defines hierarchic structure of center and the sub-center.
Pursuit of a good image that a landscape can make, was done by the urban planners of the Chosun Dynasty in Korean history. There was no reason to build artificial landmarks since the hills and streams were themselves the symbol of the city. Thus the system of nature, civilization and the culture were all in perfect harmony. In spite of this invaluable heritage, unfortunately, immature duplication of western modernity during the past several decades, alienated us from our own landscape.Finally, we became nomads in this ‘land script’-less city.

Every land has its own figure. As we all have different fingerprints, a land has its own print. It is the history of nature itself, and sometimes a history of civilization. Therefore, the landscape is a magnificent history book of our life and land: a land-script.”