When viewed through the lens of conflict, world history is entirely a history of war. However, when seen from the perspective of space, it can be read as a process of achievement and evolution. Humans have evolved their architecture to survive. From bonfires to caves, from skyscrapers to online platforms, the symbolic architecture of each era can be seen as a co-evolutionary system for survival.
Rarely has the ambitious architectural humanist Yoo Hyun-joon dealt with big history, and he has finally named us "space humans." Every time I explore human history using the time machine he designed, I am amazed by his timely storytelling. He explains the impulses and desires of Sapiens, as well as the traces of civilization, through puzzles of space and humanity, much like the historian Jared Diamond and Yuval Noah Harari.
For example, the purpose of architecture that has evolved according to each era is solely the evolutionary struggle to ensure that the 'selfish human' continues to survive into the next generation. In this sense, the representative 'architectural host' of Korean society is the apartment. The host known as an apartment has excessively proliferated with tremendous efficiency, and Koreans live within them, laying out high-speed internet networks and watching Netflix.
Reading Yoo Hyun-joon's "space humans" brings the meaning of both large and small architectures, from the first city after Eden to the Nile's canals and modern smart cities, into clear view.
Civilization after the agricultural society has been a history of good location, territorial expansion, spatial compression, and density.
The history of technology that has integrated space through ships, airplanes, and smartphones, the history of expansion that has discovered uncharted space through new continents, space, and the internet, and the history of harnessing advantageous survival through geomantic principles and the density of interaction… I have met Yoo Hyun-joon, the 'space human' traversing time and space.
-Every generation craves a good 'spatial experience.' The role of the architect is becoming increasingly important.
"That's right. Societies with many good spaces get along better. As I wrote in the preface of 'space humans,' throughout the evolving history that resembles a staircase, humanity has built symbolic architectures at each step of that staircase. For example, while the pyramids can be viewed as symbols of slave oppression and dictatorship, they also reflect that the Egyptian Empire was capable of building them, thereby maintaining peace and creating livable jobs."
I wanted to view history not just as a history of war and conquest but as a "history of space" that humanity has achieved together.
He estimates that the Tower of Babel was a tower built in Babylon with bricks and bitumen. This assumption comes with the notion that several groups of people who spoke different dialects gathered for such a significant structure, resulting in language confusion.
-Most importantly, the perspective of examining the Bible through architecture was refreshing.
"Yes. I see the Tower of Babel not as a mythical story but as a real architectural structure. The story of Solomon building the temple first before constructing the palace is also found in the biblical book of Kings. When we consider examples of societal evolution in terms of cities and architecture, we can authenticate many stories from the Old Testament. I believe that understanding biblical facts humanistically allows us to approach the true nature of religion."
He stated that his spatial perception began with reading the Bible. "The Bible is filled with metaphors. To convey a message, metaphors are often used, and I search for the space of that age to catch the structure of the story and carry out the factualization process."
-How did the imagination that a bonfire was the Big Bang of architecture begin?
"When I write, I always visualize a scene first. Whenever I imagine a scene, there are always people there. I simulate their actions and thoughts. People are sitting around a bonfire. The front is warm, the back is dark, the faces of the people illuminated by the fire, and they all look in the same direction. That's the beginning of community. Looking at one fire is like a family watching TV together. When they collectively witness something, a sense of community emerges."
He mentioned that whether it's tangible or intangible, designing relationships is architecture.
-Even without walls or roofs?
"If we consider building as stacking and constructing, Göbekli Tepe is the starting point. However, when viewing architecture as designing relationships, it can happen even without walls or roofs. A division between inside and outside has emerged around the bonfire, and because of the bonfire, we could use an indoor space, a cave with walls and a ceiling, which led to the unique relationships of humans, distinct from animals."
400,000 years ago, rather than looking up at the moon, humans became beings that looked at a bonfire while gathered together. The transformation of workplace gatherings due to bonfires into the narratives of televisions and smartphones is intriguing.
-In your designs, does the story come first? Or does the design come first?
"The story seems to become the design. Beautiful shapes in architecture hold no meaning for me. I’ve been designing for a long time, and I have had to explain the reasoning behind a design that creates a spacious feel or a hexagonal shape to the architect. I have been trained to always come up with reasonable stories."
-What are you currently designing?
"I am designing the JYP headquarters, S corporation training center, and a columbarium."
-Do these three spaces have any commonality?
"Nature and creative fusion. Both the JYP headquarters and S corporation training center have courtyards, with balconies incorporated into each building so they can face each other. The room layouts are also combined in various sizes according to their intended uses, and the protrusions on the lower floors serve as terraces for the upper floors. Creativity rises when nature is close, and different people mix their perspectives. I also designed the columbarium to blend naturally with nature during walks."
-Is the element of nature important?
"It is the most important. Nature serves as a kind of adhesive in architecture. It acts as a bond that can unify people of different temperaments. In the era of social media, with information overload and fragmentation of relationships due to algorithms, even broken relationships can become unified in the presence of sunlight, wind, trees, and soil.
In a city building with a building coverage ratio of 60%, the remaining 40% must become interstitial spaces where sunlight, wind, trees, and soil can enter. Whether or not such spaces exist can improve or worsen relationships between the earth and humanity, and between people.
-I liked your proclamation of 'space human.' While the flow of time cannot be stopped, space has been something humanity has controlled. While being 'humans in time' feels futile, 'space humans' seem to have achieved something.
"The title is 'space human,' but in the end, it speaks about time. It expresses a long duration and hopes that a long time remains ahead."
-Will there still be a long time ahead?
"I may disappear, but even if 8 billion people are not all left, maybe 100 million will remain on this planet. Some will survive and move on to the next stage. I hope that those who survive will pass down the essence of 5,000 years of human civilization to the next stage."
-What do you worry about the most?
"It will be difficult for so many people to live while maintaining the environment. What worries me are robots. Humanity obtains biological energy by consuming plants and animals, having undergone the same evolutionary process since primitive life. Although the environment has been significantly destroyed, we raise livestock and farm to sustain life and use energy.
However, with the advent of machines like cars, nature has been greatly damaged. Machines only require fossil energy while having no use for nature. The same goes for robots; they need only electricity. As the number of robots increases, nature gets destroyed. If 8 billion people and 1 billion robots exist, this ecosystem would be a disaster for nature. The more the natural ecosystem shrinks, the greater the sense of loss and problems we will encounter.
-To fill that sense of loss, everyone will likely take refuge in a digital cocoon, just like what was seen in the movie 'The Matrix.'
"A significant server and a great deal of energy is needed to operate that digital solution."
In a world driven by electricity and algorithms, how far will humanity's space be pushed back?
-In SF movies, civilians often degrade to miners on colonial planets for harvesting energy, while early entrepreneurs who capitalist those planets become villains controlling humanity.
"Elon Musk is one of the representative entrepreneurs who has influenced humanity's space. Steve Jobs, before him, made it possible to enter virtual space anytime and anywhere with smartphones. As connections between people amplified, the meaning of space significantly changed. Now, people may not have their own rooms, but they embellish their spaces with digital bricks on Instagram.
As you know, the history of humanity is a history of spatial expansion. Humanity has continually migrated and spread to the ends of the earth. Crossing the Bering Strait to the Americas... They lived scattered on a plane before creating cities. As density increased, they built two-story houses and progressed to eight-story buildings. In the 20th century, when space began to feel scarce, they constructed 30-story homes using reinforced concrete and inflated the space. At some point, when the physical expansion of space reached its limits…
-The virtual space of the internet emerged.
"Before that, there was an attempt to expand into outer space. However, it was abandoned due to excessive energy consumption. Elon Musk drastically reduced the cost of traveling to outer space while creating SpaceX. Additionally, he laid out the satellite internet web called Starlink. Up until now, businesses, including Steve Jobs's, have operated using government-laid fiber cables, but Starlink is independent funding from government infrastructure.
Private corporations have gained enough power to lay infrastructure and influence the Russia-Ukraine war. The significance of that is precisely how much space they can compress.
-They are overwhelming space conquerors.
"Elon Musk could be said to be the Alexander of the 21st century."
-He may appear to be a futurist, but his roots lie in the technocratic model spearheaded by Musk's grandfather in North America 100 years ago, which ultimately failed. It's ironic that private corporations own the sky and influence wars.
"It's dangerous. Although it seems like he is under Trump right now, just wait. Politicians leave in four years, but entrepreneurs do not. The surface area of the Earth is limited, and with the emergence of nation-states, the land grabbing is over. The heads of a single nation have already defined borders, and if there is no war, the spatial expansion will be limited. There's no way to cross borders carelessly. But corporations are different. They are multinational corporations.
The power of the heads of multinational corporations lasts longer than that of political leaders. The only real power a president of a country has is military and nuclear weapons. But if they start producing Optimus robots, that's it. Having 100,000 drones means that even aircraft carriers lose their power. It seems like we have entered a world where even wars can be controlled by corporations.
-For now, nations still possess energy supply chains.
"So, when discussing future wars, the crucial point is attacks on power plants, because robot soldiers, tanks, and drones all operate on electricity."
-Currently, the most powerful individual in the world is Trump. What kind of space human is the hegemon Trump?
"For Trump, the most important thing is the space of dollar circulation. However, as China purchases U.S. government bonds and attempts to settle Middle Eastern oil in yuan, it is encroaching on the dollar circulation space. As the dollar space shrinks, Trump is creating stablecoins for virtual currency, empowering coin companies that can purchase U.S. government bonds.
Another significant concern for Trump is the Arctic. If the Arctic, once frozen due to climate warming, opens, it will become the Mediterranean of the 21st century. In the future, trade will likely revolve around the Arctic. However, the United States has a very short coastline towards the Arctic. Although there is Alaska, it is insufficient. That is why he has his eyes on Canada and Greenland.
If the U.S. can acquire Greenland, it will at least gain a coastline length comparable to Russia and Canada. In fact, the reason the U.S. has come to dominate the world today is that it has the longest coastline bordering the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. If the Arctic coastline melts in the future, Russia's status will change completely. If Siberia melts too, the 21st century Singapore will not be found in Southeast Asia.
-What impact will this have on our country?
"In that case, the most important area for Korea will be Ulleungdo. In fact, the West Sea, or Yellow Sea, has never operated like a Mediterranean Sea. Had it functioned even like the Mediterranean between North Africa and the European continent, tremendous trade and a renaissance would have taken place, but the tide differentials in the West Sea have imposed limits on trade.
In the future, when the Arctic opens, we will need to redraw Korea's future. Instead of trade routes going through Southeast Asia, ships could travel through the Arctic to North Africa, North America, and Europe. The largest island in the Mediterranean is Sicily, which was once controlled by the Roman Empire as a base. The largest island in the East Sea is Ulleungdo, so I think it would be great if we could develop the East Sea like a second Mediterranean.
-However, currently, Korea is experiencing such severe social conflict that it cannot even spend energy on such imagination. Is the phenomenon of heightened conflict in Korea rooted in space?
"The underlying cause of high conflict is that the expansion of space has been blocked. For society to develop, spatial expansion must occur. For instance, the most culturally prosperous time in Korean history was during Unified Silla. The structures of Bulguksa and Seokguram are among the finest traditional architectures. When examining why, the case of spatial expansion through military conquest is unique to Silla in Korea.
You need land and slaves to achieve rapid GDP growth from an agricultural economy. It's about expanding territories through war and absorbing slave labor. However, neither Goguryeo nor Joseon experienced territorial expansion. That means while the population may increase, GDP growth does not happen. When the pie shrinks, commerce must increase value-add, but we have despised commerce. The inability to develop commerce correlates to not being able to create cities.
-Is it a political issue? A technological issue?
"Our ondol rooms limit us to single-story homes. If you cannot increase population density, you cannot have high-density cities. Because of low density, markets do not open every day but only every five days. Even if I want to sell gopchang soup, I must wait four days, so commerce cannot develop. If I cannot engage in commerce, I must farm, and those earning money from agriculture are the ones who have inherited land deeds. Thus, a society of wealth inheritance solidifies.
They portray themselves as peace-loving and not invading other countries, but because they did not make others' citizens into slaves, a phenomenon of making their own citizens slaves arose. In the 18th century, slavery comprised 30-40% of Joseon. No matter how one dresses it up, it was an abnormal country that kept its own citizens as slaves.
Conversely, Japan could not use ondol due to frequent earthquakes. Even in Kyoto, there are two-story houses built hundreds of years ago. This indicates that they were able to earn money through trade. By buying flour and salt to make udon, they could generate income without land deeds. Hence, there are udon shops that have been around for over 200 years. Joseon failed to create cities by increasing spatial density, leading to its downfall. Japan succeeded in creating cities that enabled mass production and distribution. Even by just looking at pictures, Shinyeonbok drew by hand, whereas Ukiyo-e was produced using woodblock printing.
-In dense urban spaces, ladders of social mobility are created.
"That's right. With the advent of boilers and two-story Western-style houses, elevators have given rise to 12-story apartments, leading to the emergence of commercial spaces. Supermarkets come into existence, and self-employed individuals arise, thus creating a middle class. Individuals with no land deeds, like people from North Korea, can also earn money. Therefore, a society allows for social mobility through high-density revolutions.
The economic revival achieved through urban development and the construction of high-rise buildings reached its limit in the 1990s. At that point, the emergence of the internet's virtual space gave rise to new wealth, such as Naver and Kakao. However, after the internet space revolution in the 1990s, there has been no further spatial expansion in Korea.
In that situation, the reduction of trade space due to Trump's tariff policies also means that the space for the usage of won produced by the Bank of Korea will diminish.
As space contracts, conflict will intensify further.
Yoo Hyun-joon's way of understanding the core of the problem as rooted in space presents a banquet of different possibilities. The economic exchange with North Korea could physically expand space, or the worry of unemployment from AI may lead to a 50 million population creating individual avatars to inflate to 100 million, thus expanding the economically productive population.
-However, as AI, the immigrant of the internet's new continent, pours forth products with terrifying efficiency, ironically, the number of people and time available to consume them becomes increasingly scarce. Regardless, I agree that historically, new continents have provided new opportunities for the weak.
"That's an important point. Those who were alienated during the Industrial Revolution, the Irish and Italians, crossed the Atlantic in a week via steamships to seize opportunities in America. Those who could not grasp opportunities in the East traveled through the railroads into the West, developing gold mines and creating Hollywood and Silicon Valley. When space expands, those who lack vested interests are the first to move there.
Whether it be steamships, high-rise buildings, or virtual internet spaces, when new technologies create new continents, the keen-eyed disadvantaged produce movement. When the online space was opened, 'old money' didn't go, but young people established internet venture companies.
However, if mobility constructs of wealth do not emerge, populists advocating the sharing of limited resources gain popularity. Thus, without a politician with a vision for spatial expansion, that society has no future. Look at South America, where failure to change the industrial structure due to failed technological and spatial revolutions has led to the downfall brought about by populist politicians.
While the population is small, just as the Netherlands first created joint-stock companies navigating the Atlantic and Pacific, more young people must seek answers for spatial expansion overseas.
-For the past century, New York has served as the capital of the world. Countless races have gathered from all over the world, bubbling with creativity and productivity. Compared to New York, how is Seoul faring?
"Tokyo has served as the capital of Asia. The size of a city can measure the level of civilization in that society. The population of New York is 16 million, while that of Tokyo is 20 million. The fact that 20 million people can live together without discomfort indicates that Tokyo possesses highly developed systems and civilization in terms of security, transportation, and education.
In fact, the empires that led a particular era boasted of sophisticated governance systems while maintaining the largest cities of their time. The distinction lies in their population composition. Seoul lacks the ethnic diversity present in New York. Even with the same population of ten million, New York comprises various races, such as Black, White, Asian, and Russians, while Seoul is mostly homogenous. The density of stimuli and experiences between a diverse ten million and a homogeneous ten million starkly contrast.
-The density of stimuli must indeed differ significantly. What about other provincial cities in Korea?
"They are not properly responding. Busan suffers the most. Compared to the past, the density and vitality of Busan have rapidly decreased. To survive, it needs to erase its past glory and think of becoming a second Singapore. Geographically, Busan has potential similar to Hong Kong. In fact, since Hong Kong was returned to China, Busan should have been attracting financial systems and multinational corporations. Both Dubai and Singapore successfully attract wealthy foreigners, so why not Busan?
For example, the warehouses spread across Busan could be used as art storage to cultivate it into a city that hosts art fairs like Art Basel. Utilizing tax exemptions on artwork, it could be developed into a financial art city. Basel, despite having a population of around 150,000, has stores of Hermes and Chanel in its downtown. This scale of consumption is feasible with a global market.
He said that having a small population is not the problem.
"Thinking of selling products or services emerging from that city to the world will naturally lead to spatial expansion. In Japan, some towns have commercialized their beautiful autumn leaves to increase income and created hotels by transforming their entire village to attract tourists.
-At this point, let's talk about smart cities. Is it feasible to have detachable automobile buildings?
"Of course. With autonomous driving, cars will become spaces for staying rather than just modes of transportation. Instead of separate parking lots and buildings, they can dock mechanically and serve as rooms. Once autonomous driving becomes commercialized, roads, which make up 13% of the city's space, can also be used as 'mobile offices.' The first city to apply that will gain competitiveness."
-Currently, autonomous driving is more a matter of policy and law than technology.
"That gives China an advantage. Being a dictatorship, they can simply push ahead. In a city like Shenzhen, the taxi driver simply sits without holding the steering wheel. If China can make progress in autonomous driving pilot cities and robotics using its 1.4 billion citizens for big data, democracy can hardly avoid following suit."
-How will the spatial war between China and the U.S. unfold?
"The key lies in where China is heading relative to America's cards. Will it divide into multiple nations due to wealth disparity and social conflict, or will it become a more fully controlled state through IT technology? China is at a crossroads. Historically isolated, China, due to Trump, is now discussing restructuring free trade systems centered around itself and the EU instead.
In response, the United States' hidden card to protect the dollar space is stablecoins. This will siphon the money from wealthy Chinese. Even if China becomes an economic power, the wealthy will remain uneasy living under Xi Jinping's authoritarian space. Ultimately, it will be a battle over whether the economic or political system is more important.
-From the Garden of Eden to AI smart cities, you have explored human history through architecture. What do you think is the most significant factor influencing evolution?
"Undoubtedly, it is the density of contact. I express that as synapses. Humanity and cities have continuously evolved towards increasing the total amount of synapses."
-During the interviews conducted in the COVID era, you emphasized the importance of delivery tunnels, terraces, and social mixing to increase the total amount of synapses.
"Yes. Those are the three cards I hold as an architect: delivery tunnels, terraces, and social mixing. I mention the delivery tunnels whenever I meet politicians, but it's still not realized. In coastal cities like Busan, if just one line is laid, deliveries could be made within 10 minutes via robots. Certain lifestyles utilizing such new technologies can attract foreigners."
Like a unicorn with eyes everywhere, the conversation with an architect possessing a wide field of vision had no limits. He mentioned that as global warming progresses, a high-speed train connecting Seoul and Pyongyang will create a powerful cluster.
-What city do you personally like the most?
"Seoul. It's dynamic due to its mountainous terrain and frequent changes. The area is also vast, so there are many places I haven't yet visited. Above all, I was born and raised in Seoul, witnessing the transformation of this city. I was born in Gangbuk, moved to Gangnam, and saw the city grow.
In my childhood, I grew up in Guui-dong. Playing around the Children's Hall, I was influenced by science, and during my youth, I observed changes in the club and café culture as an Orange tribe member. I have seen the landscape of two-story Western-style houses, which change from clothing stores to bars each season. Regardless of how nice London, New York, Rome, or Paris may be, can I ignore the sentiments that accompany that transformation? Those who shared memories become the best of friends.
-Finally, how can we design our living spaces to lead wise lives as 'space humans'?
"First, observe what you like and create your own library of spaces. Our ancestors organized accumulated data into feng shui. They noted how to avoid cold in winter and rainfall during the monsoon, and more. It’s not hard. Each person has a specific space that suits them. Some may be captivated by an open view, while others are drawn into an enclosed cozy space. Ultimately, self-observation comes first.
"By asking questions such as 'Where did I feel comfortable? Where did I find happiness?' you will discover your own spatial MBTI."
Even though we may not possess such spaces, cities allow us to enjoy them. If you identify ten personal spaces, that’s your constellation of spaces. When wanting to be alone, one could sit under the Hannam Bridge, and when wanting to enjoy with a loved one, a cafe at Dosan Park, and so on. Having met numerous individuals as an architect, those who possess their own space recipes lived happier lives than the wealthy who merely watch Instagram from penthouses.