Weathering Architect
Korea | Film 90min, TV 48min | 4K | Color
Logline
An elderly architect Joh Sungyong's plan to save an old building and its trees in his winning apartment redesign is met with fierce resistance, until the concrete itself, burdened by memory, begins to speak.
Synopsis
For two decades, the elderly veteran architect Joh Sungyong has consistently placed second, his philosophy of preserving the memory and value of old things always losing out to flashier designs. At last, he wins a competition to redevelop a large apartment complex, only for his plan to 'regenerate' the old buildings and preserve its trees to be met with fierce opposition from the residents. As exhaustion sets in, the concrete begins to speak to him.
Director's Statement
The sight of massive apartment complexes rising where everything else had been erased always filled me with disillusionment as I documented urban renewal. Around that time, I met architect Joh Sungyong. He was preserving the abandoned homes of patients with Hansen's disease on Sorokdo Island when he said, "When a house disappears, its memory disappears too." It was a small comfort. In a Korean society that chases only speed and novelty, I want this film to preserve his philosophy of embracing natural decay.
Director KWON Sunhyeon
KWON Sunhyeon is a documentary filmmaker whose most recent short, Paraffin Dream (2020), won the Jury Special Award at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. Weathering Architect is his feature-length debut.
Producer KO Duhyun
As a documentary producer, KO Duhyun's latest film My Missing Aunt (2024, directed by Yang Juyeon) has been screened at prestigious film festivals, including Jeonju International Film Festival, EBS International Documentary Festival, and Hot Docs.