“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us,” Winston Churchill said in October 1943 as he promised to reconstruct the British Parliament building, which had been destroyed by bombs during World War II.Against a backdrop of hasty urban planning, lousy buildings and a clutter of signboards that mirror Korea’s turbulent modern history, pricey structures continue to rise over each other in Seoul as if to compete to become a landmark of the capital.Min Hyun-shik, architectural magnate and form

This is the third in a weekly series that examines the expanding role of design in the run-up to the Herald Design Forum 2014 on Nov. 26. ― Ed.“Less is more.”Joon Paik’s simple answer epitomizes what he puts above all else in architectural design.“It’s actually easy to add things. But if you keep adding, you end up with just a mixture of everything with no clear point,” said Paik, vice president of Seoul-based Chang-jo Architects.“The essence of a design unveils itself when unnecessary bits are

Buncheong ceramics, white porcelain pieces among relics salvaged from underwater site

Romanian-born American theater director Andrei Serban has compared the famous classical Korean love story “Chunhyangjeon” to freely adapted works of Shakespeare. “Like Shakespeare’s stories, you can turn the story upside down, improvise and do the craziest experiments to recreate,” Serban said in a press conference on Wednesday about his new production “Andrei Serban’s Different Chunhyang,” which will be staged with the National Changguek Company from Nov. 20 to Dec. 6. “But at the end of the da

MINNEAPOLIS ― She’s a therapist and career coach, cheerleader and wise woman, secret keeper and borscht pusher.Mostly, 85-year-old Gretta Freeman of Golden Valley, Minnesota, is chief executive officer of perhaps the most endearingly run support group in the Midwest, and likely beyond. Unfortunately for us, membership is closed.For 18 years, Freeman has guided her seven grandchildren, now grown, through myriad life passages and challenges. She has done this through her Grandma’s Roundtable, a pe

PITTSBURGH ― They crawl and they feed on rotting flesh and sinew, appearing to pulsate as they strip the skull and thorax of a small rodent. The sight of them might give a chill or turn a stomach, but it is simply nature at work.The grubs of dermestid (or skin, hide or carrion) beetles are scavengers that feed on the carcasses of the deceased and are commonly found on roadkill or, more grimly, on abandoned corpses.But in a 208-liter aquarium tank on the coffee table of a Pittsburgh apartment, th

SANTA BARBARA, California ― Joe McCabe sits on a wooden bench and calls out to two men strolling up State Street, “Have any spare change? I’m actually a traveler.”The men continue walking, and McCabe grumbles a homophobic slur that they don’t hear.McCabe gets up from the park bench and saunters down State Street in the opposite direction. At the corner, he stretches his right arm out to a woman wearing short shorts and high heels. She grimaces and looks at her friends questioningly as she maneuv

GM Korea president and CEO Sergio Rocha has reportedly been encouraging female colleagues to take the time to better balance their work and families by telling pregnant workers that their babies are more important than their work. “GM Korea issues pink ID cards to pregnant women, who are excluded from nightshift as well as other excessive duties,” he told several female reporters invited to the GM Korea 4th Women’s Conference held on Wednesday in Seoul. Under the theme of “Growing Together,” fem

A reader writes that she plans to give up her apartment, store her belongings and live and travel outside the U.S. for a year. “Can you recommend resources on this subject?” Answer: There’s enough information on this to fill a book, and a quick search using such terms as “expat” and “extended travel” will turn up several of them.The biggest issue is where to start. Here’s what Karen McCann says: “I often tell people that a journey of a thousand steps begins with an online search.”She knows well

The Korean government said Tuesday Song Hae, the host of the country’s longest-running TV show, “KBS Nationwide Singing Contest,” will be awarded the silver crown of the Order of Cultural Merit on Nov. 17.The Order of Cultural Merit is awarded to those who have achieved an outstanding performance and greatly contributed to Korea’s media and art scene.The 87-year-old TV personality has hosted the show for 26 years since 1988. He is known for his eloquence in emceeing and witty comments, which hav

15 finalists of the Dutch Design Awards present products in Seoul