International Seminar on Symbolic Space in the Humanities Perspective

The Presidential Commission on Architecture Policy and the Architecture and Urban Research Institute(AURI) held an international seminar on “Symbolic Space in the Humanities Perspective” on Thursday, February 1, at the Community House Masil in Seoul. 

Held under the theme of “symbolic space,” which refers to places that reflect national identities and symbolisms and function as communicative spaces of history, culture, and the citizens, this seminar invited domestic and international experts to discuss the importance and meanings of symbolic spaces in each country from a humanistic perspective, identify the core values of national symbolic places, and explore ways to create them. 

The seminar commenced with Professor Sung-do Kim’s (Korea University) presentation on “A Humanistic Introduction to Symbolic Space,” followed by Professor Massimo Leone’s (University of Turin, Italy) presentation titled “From the Agora to the Forum and Piazza: Rome’s Squares as Symbolic Places.” Finally, Professor Pascal Lardellier (Université de Bourgogne, France) presented “From the Semiotic City to the Ritual City: Theoretical Milestones for Ceremonial Urbanism.” 

The following discussion session was led by Jong-hun Kim (Professor, Pai Chai University), Member of the Presidential Commission on Architecture Policy and attended by Professors Sung-do Kim, Massimo Leone, and Pascal Lardellier, and Sunghoon Oh, Senior Research Fellow at AURI, who discussed how national symbolic spaces can be created based on national consensus.