A Seance with the Living: the Intelligibility of the North Korean Landscape

Atkins, Peter

doi:10.1007/978-1-349-24981-7_11

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This new city could be planned without obstruction from private property ownership or historic structure and function, resulting in a typical modernist superblock design with wide boulevards intended to separate residential districts rather than to accommodate traffic flow. 6 Pyongyang was rebuilt as a reflection of socialism and the victorious selfdetermination representative of the new North Korean nation.…”

Section: The Urban Histories Of Pyongyang and Windhoekmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11 Culture, nature and politics form a dialectic narrative central to constructing political ideologies such as the Juche philosophy. 12 Kim Il Sung stated that "Pyongyang must be a model for the whole country in all the ideological, technical and cultural spheres, so that it can give foreign visitors a complete picture of the development of our country." 13 Although unequivocally the largest and most modern city in Namibia, Windhoek does not claim a similar primacy in the national imagination, where identity politics are tied to, and contested by, non-urban land ownership.…”

Section: Pyongyang's Mansu Hill Grand Monument and Windhoek's City Crownmentioning

confidence: 99%

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North Korean Aesthetics within a Colonial Urban Form: Monuments to Independence and Democracy in Windhoek, Namibia

Roland¹,

Stevens²

2023

Proceedings of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand.

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This paper examines two high-profile commemorative spaces in Namibia’s national capital, Windhoek, designed and constructed by North Korean state-owned enterprise Mansudae Overseas Projects. These commemorative projects illustrate the complex and evolving intersections between public art, architecture and urban form in this post-colonial context. They show how sites designed around heritage and collective identity intersect with urban space’s physical development and everyday use. The projects also illustrate the intersecting histories of three aesthetic lineages: German, South African and North Korean. This paper will show how these commemorative spaces embody North Korean urban space ideas while also developing new national symbols, historical narratives and identities within Windhoek’s urban landscape as part of independent Namibia’s nation-building. The monument’s ‘Socialist Realist’ aesthetic signals a conscious departure from the colonial and apartheid eras by the now-independent Namibian government. This paper extends prior research focused on the symbolism of Mansudae’s monumental schemes by analysing these monuments’ design, placement, public reception and use within Windhoek as they relate to the city’s overall development since Namibia’s independence in 1990. By documenting the form, location and decision-making processes for the Mansudae-designed memorials in Windhoek and historical changes in their spatial and political context, the paper explores the interaction between North Korean political ideology and design approaches and Namibia’s democratic ambitions for city-making. The paper’s mapping analysis spatially compares the sculptural, architectural and urban design strategies of Mansudae’s additions to Windhoek’s City Crown (2010-14) to Pyongyang’s Mansu Hill Grand Monument (1972-2011), and Windhoek’s Heroes’ Acre (2002) to Mansudae’s earlier National Martyrs Cemetery outside Pyongyang (1975-85).

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Section: The Urban Histories Of Pyongyang and Windhoekmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pyongyang's Mansu Hill Grand Monument and Windhoek's City Crownmentioning

confidence: 99%