| Title |
The Birth of Modern Joseon Architecture - Pyongyang Grand Theater and Socialist Realism in North Korean Architecture - |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK_PD.2018.34.10.119 |
| Keywords |
North Korea ; Pyongyang ; Pyongyang Grand Theater ; Socialist Realism ; Tradition ; Kim Il Sung |
| Abstract |
In the late 1950s, departing from their unquestioning following of Soviet architecture, North Koreans attempted to discover the specificities of traditional Korean architecture and apply them to their contemporary monuments. This paper examines the ways in which North Korean architects developed their unique version of Socialist realism in the making of Pyongyang Grand Theater. The traditional elements in harmony with North Korea's political ideology?an early form of Juche ideology?and modern building technologies were to be viewed as contemporary elements, and not as a simple revival of the past. This study applies Socialist realism's compositional principle "national in form and socialist in content" to Pyongyang Grand Theater and examines specifically what "socialist content" and "national form" were and how the two were combined in the construction of Pyongyang Grand Theater. By situating the building in the context of localization of Socialist realism which is universal art principle of the communist world, this study contributes to the deeper and wider understanding of North Korea's Modern Joseon Architecture. |