Jeonil Building 245 Wins Grand Prize at Korea Spatial Culture Awards

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 10th that Jeonil Building 245 will receive the Prime Minister's Award, the highest prize, at the ‘2020 Korea Spatial Culture Awards’.

Now in its 15th year, the ‘Korea Spatial Culture Awards’ is hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (hereafter MCST) and organized by MCST and the Korea Institute of Architects.

In particular, the award winners are determined through a comprehensive evaluation of cultural creativity in the spatial planning and execution process, the degree of participation by various stakeholders including local residents and experts, reflection of regional characteristics, and operational methods.

This year, out of 35 works recommended and submitted by local governments, public institutions, and private organizations nationwide, a judging committee composed of related experts (Chairman Han Man-won) selected a total of six works after document and on-site evaluations, with Jeonil Building 245 achieving the honor of winning the highest award.

Jeonil Building 245 is the birthplace of Honam media and was used for various purposes from the 1970s to the 1990s, holding the sorrows and memories of citizens. It is also the site where 245 bullet marks, presumed to be from helicopter gunfire during the May 18 Democratic Movement in 1980, were discovered.

After a 52-month remodeling process, the building was transformed into a citizen historical and cultural space embracing Gwangju’s past, present, and future, including the Citizen Plaza (B1 to 4F) as a citizen cultural space, Gwangju Contents Hub (5F to 7F) for fostering a cultural industry innovation growth ecosystem, the 19800518 space (9F to 10F) commemorating May 18, and Jeonil Maru (rooftop, 8F) as an observation and resting space. It opened on May 11.

In this evaluation, Jeonil Building 245 was praised for its planning and operation that turned a space containing the historicity and locality of the old Jeonil Building into a public space for citizens, creating a space with great potential for future generations to remember and share history and create new cultural values.

Kim Jun-young, Director of the City’s Culture, Tourism and Sports Office, said, “Jeonil Building 245, which contains the painful history of Gwangju’s May 18 Memorial Space, has gained nationwide attention by winning the highest award at the Korea Spatial Culture Awards. We will strive further to develop Jeonil Building 245 as a space connecting Gwangju’s past, present, and future, a space that resonates with Gwangju, and a symbol of the city.”

Meanwhile, at the ‘2020 Korea Spatial Culture Awards,’ along with Jeonil Building 245, the following were awarded: ▲Grand Prize (President’s Award) ‘Ujuro 1216’ (Jeonju) ▲Dure Nanum Award (Minister’s Award) ‘PiVille 99’ (Korea Central Academy Foundation) ▲Street Yard Award (Minister’s Award) ‘Sinchon, Blue Whale’ (Seodaemun-gu, Seoul) ▲Nuri Shelter Award (Minister’s Award) ‘Pohang Railroad Forest’ (Pohang, Gyeongbuk) ▲Our Love Award (Minister’s Award) ‘Sanyang Brewery’ (Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk).

The award ceremony will be held at the ‘2020 Korea Architecture Culture Festival’ in Gyeongnam on November 11, and visual materials such as photos and videos of the selected spaces will be exhibited online during the festival.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.