THE ACLA HISTORY
THE SPIRIT OF ACLA
Since he was a child, Sung-Kyun Kim had paid lots of attention to
the natural environment and Korean traditional culture in his homeland, in Korea. Sung was born in the city of Mungyeong-si,
three years after the end of the Korean war. The history which divided the country on the
Korean peninsula into two, North Korea and South Korea. Sung's hometown is
approximately 200 km from Seoul City by bus, and 153 km by train. Its location
is southeast of the capital.
Sung-Kyun Kim experienced the period when the Korean
population was experiencing food difficulties. His family of eight children
also lived a life of worry, only being able to eat pine tree bark which is
processed into delicious food by his mother. His father, a teacher and school
principal, once said, "Sung, study hard, so you can improve our country,
we inherit nature and culture from our ancestors, which are very beautiful and
good for building the quality of human life." Sung was a good listener, he
also remembered his father's words, "Sung, Indonesia is a country with good
agricultural products, learn from the Indonesian people too."
From his father's words, Little Sung was used to paying
attention to natural scenery and always tried to understand the meaning of the
natural beauty of his country's landscapes.
In his childhood and youth, Sung also saw environmental
conditions that were degraded due to foreign power domination, especially in
the name of 'Marshal Plan' by America. The country, especially Seoul, the
capital, were degraded, as the impact of the large-scale development in South
Korea.
Sung was not only a good listener, he was also a true
witness. The habit of observing nature and witnessing natural beauty gave birth
to his artistic potential, namely drawing and painting landscapes. Since his youth,
Sung has been fond of painting, both on paper and on canvas. Some of his works
are natural landscapes, the beautiful landscapes of his hometown, Mungyeong-si.
BACKGROUND OF ACLA
Asian countries have a long history and developed
distinctive landscape cultures. However, Asian cultural landscape researches
are still in infancy, especially when most of Asian landscapes have been
studied based on Westerners’ point of view.
We need to discuss these issues from Asian point of view in
order to find our own identity, and plan & design our future world with
these cultural landscapes.
The Embryo of ACLA
Although the word ‘Nujeongwon’ is not mentioned in the
"Winding River Village, Poetics of a Korean Landscape", in the PhD dissertation
book of Sung-Kyun Kim, the spirit of this book is ‘Nujeongwon’. It can be discovered
after analyzing each chapter, especially chapter six, namely THE SIXTEEN
BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES.
It was a very deep, comprehensive and continuous
research since Sung-Kyun Kim was in his Master of Arts study, in University of
Pennsylvania, USA 1984 ~ 1987.
Actually, ‘Nujeongwon’ -- as the core of ACLA’s mission --
was firstly mentioned in an event organized by Chinese Society of Landscape
Architecture. The event was an international conference with theme “The
Universality and Regionality of Landscape Culture in East Asian Region". Prof.
Sung-Kyun Kim submitted and spoke of his paper and presentation with title of Structure
and Meaning of a Korean Nujeongwon”. The event was held in Tokyo, Japan in
August 2006.
In 2009, Sung-Kyun Kim had to undergo brain surgery because
he had been working so hard for a very long time. For more than twenty years he
only slept 3 to 4 hours a day.
The idea of organizing the spirit of Asian cultural landscape
arose in his consciousness while he was in suspended animation during his brain
surgery until a few hours before he returned to the mundane realm. It happened
in early August 2009*.
When he recovered from a critical condition after the surgery,
he again reflected on the identity of the Asian landscape, especially the
Korean landscape.
Logo - The overall ACLA logo expressed ACLA is a Asia-based
platform that providing Asians a democratic roundtable for discussing about
Asian Cultural Landscapes. - It is also a metaphysical exposition of the aims
and objectives of this foundation: ‘A’ symbolises the beginning and returning
(‘A’) through the cyclic notion of continuity ‘C’, and attached ‘L’ denotes the
locomotive function of longevity. Legal Entity (Institution)
September 1 – 4 2009, IFLA APR Cultural Landscape Committee
(IFLA APR CLC) held an event at Songdo Convensia, Incheon Metropolitan City,
South Korea. The theme of the Congress is Green Culture in Cities. Tong Mahn
Ahn led the congress, Sung Kyun Kim led the Student Charrette. The ACLA embryo
had existed since then in Prof. Sung-Kyun Kim's upper womb, in his skull.
ACLA Fetal Growth
There were some international events organized by Prof.
Sung-Kyun Kim and team, before he declared the ACLA as an official
organization. And, Chun Hyun-Jin was involved in them devotedly.
From contemplation after contemplation, Sung-Kyun Kim came
to the realization that we in Asia need to discuss about this problem from an
Asian perspective to find our own identity, to plan and design our future world
with our cultural landscape in Asia. And, along with this idea as well, he formulated
the term of “Nujeongwon” in this way:
Nujeongwon is “an exterior space, organized visually and
conceptually as a whole, centered around Nujeong building.” I start with this
new definition for the Korean landscape, because we cannot explain it in terms
of the Western concept of a garden, such as, “the artificial and fenced area
decorated for aesthetic and practical purposes.”
In 2010 and 2011, Sung-Kyun Kim declaratively used the term
"Nujeongwon" in three international scientific meetings, namely:
At the IFLA APR Cultural Landscape Committee meeting, 14 ~
17 December 2010, in Seoul, Korea, with the title of the paper and presentation:
Sustainable Korean Landscape Garden, “Nujeongwon”. Resolved document in the
Proceedings of the 2010 IFLA APR Cultural Landscape Committee International
Symposium, on pages 18-23.
As invited speaker in Tallin, Estonia at the Landscape
Architecture Congress, 2~4 November 2011, Mind the Gap: Landscapes for a New
Era, EFLA Regional Congress of Landscape Architecture, Sung-Kyun Kim presented
“Sustainable Landscape and Aesthetics in Korean Traditional Landscape Parks ,
Nujeongwon.”
Again, Sung-Kyun Kim at the IFLA APR Cultural Landscape
Committee meeting, 5 ~ 8 December 2011, in Seoul, Korea, with the title of his
paper and presentation: Sustainable Korean Traditional Landscape Garden,
“Nujeongwon”. Resolved document in the Proceedings of the 2011 IFLA APR Cultural
Landscape Committee International Symposium, on pages 31-40.
In 2012, Sung-Kyun Kim worked on a research project for the
Korean ministry of environment, which was intended to form the basis for policy
formulation for the Natural Park Master Plan. Sung-Kyun Kim focused his
research with Nujeongwon's perspective.
ACLA’S BIRTH AND THE INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
Still in the same year, on December 3 2012, in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia, Sung-Kyun Kim as the founder accompanied by several members -- including Hyun-Jin Chun, the PhD student under his academic guidance -- officially declared the formation Asian Cultural Landscape Association, ACLA. The event was attended by participants of the third IFLA APR CLC symposium. The composition of the participants, 2 from Korea, 1 from Japan, 1 from Hong Kong, 1 from Indonesia, 1 from India, 1 from Thailand, 1 from Singapore and 13 from Malaysia. So, this symposium is also the 1st ACLA International Symposium.
Sung-Kyun Kim was also involved in the “Seoul City Planning
for the Next Century” or also called “Seoul Planning Charter” which lasted from
2012 to 2015. Seoul prepared an Urban Planning Charter for the next 100 years
as the basis for city planning administration, providing long-term direction
and consistent.
The process incorporates a 100 year sustainable urban
planning philosophy, the Charter was finalized by 170 representatives of Seoul
citizens. At the theme selection stage, there were 21 experts, 3 members of the
Seoul Metropolitan Council, and 6 civil society people. Sung-Kyun Kim is one of
the 21 experts. The entire process started from 16 August 2012 to 10 September
2015 (declaration and follow-up).
During the period mentioned above, Prof. Kim is often
accompanied by his student, Hyun-Jin Chun, they become close friends in
discussing matters related to environmental sustainability, quality of life,
and Korean culture, as an important part of Asia as a whole.
The 2nd ACLA International Symposium was held the following year, precisely on 12 ~ 14 October 2013 in Seoul, Korea with the theme "Meanings & Aesthetics in Asian Cultural Landscape" and Kim-Sung-Kyun presented "Meaning and Aesthetics of a Korean Traditional Landscape: Focusing on Hahoe Gyeomam-Okyeonjeong” (about Nujeongwon in Hahoe village), this was documented in the Proceedings of the 2013 ACLA International Symposium. October 12 ~ 14, 2013 in Seoul, Korea, on pages 39-46.
The 3rd ACLA International Symposium was also held in Seoul, Korea, in October 2014, with the theme “Waterfront Asian Cultural Landscape.” That same month, Kim-Sung-Kyun presented “Way of Seeing in Traditional Korean Landscape Garden.” This was a lecture on Nujeongwon complete.
The 4th ACLA International Symposium was held in Bali, 11 ~ 13 September 2015 with the theme "Agricultural Landscapes of Asia: Learning, Preserving, and Redefining". The event was organized by Landscape Architecture Department, Udayana Unuiversity, namely Naniek Kohdrata.
In the same year, 2015 November,
Sung-Kyun Kim had the opportunity to hold a Solo Design Exhibition at Yanbian
University, China. Lafent reported the event as follows:
Design and photography personal exhibition
Lafent Reporter Jeon Ji-eun lArticle input2015-12-04
Sungkyun Kim, a professor at Seoul National University (Chairman of the Korean Society of Landscape Architecture), held an exhibition of 'Professor Sung-kyun Kim's Design and Photography' at Yanbian University Museum of Art, China from November 16th (Mon) to 20th (Fri).
In this exhibition, which was held at the invitation of Yanbian University, about 40 photographs of the works designed by Professor Kim, such as the Deoksugung Pedestrian Road, were exhibited.
The event was attended by many people inside and outside the university, including the head of the International Relations Office of Yanbian University, the dean of the college of fine arts, the secretary of the college of fine arts, the vice-chairman of the city council, the director of the Yanji City Construction Bureau, and the director of the Design Institute.
Meanwhile, Professor Kim was invited to the 'Invited Lecture by Foreign Scholars' and gave a special lecture on 'Pedestrian-centered Street Landscape Design' to public officials and students of Yanji City.
In 2016, there were several activities related to Sung-Kyun Kim's efforts to promote Nujeongwon, namely he launched the first edition of the book 'Winding River Village, Poetic of a Korean Landscape' published by ACLA Press, It was from his PhD dissertation, 1988. Followed by scientific articles, Kim, Sung-Kyun et al. 2016. A Study on the Contents and Distribution of Palgyeong in Gangneung Area. Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture. 34(2). pp. 16~26.
The last international activity this year was the 5th ACLA
International Symposium with the theme “Sacred Sites, Cultural Landscapes & Harmonizing
the World of Asia” which was held in Lampang, Thailand, from 2 to 4 December.
Sung-Kyun Kim, in his presentation gave an example of how to create a sacred
landscape garden by applying the principles and values of pungsu and
Nujeongwon, namely Bongyudongcheon which is located in his homeland. The event
in Lampang, Thailand was the 5th ACLA International event.
From 22 to 24 July 2017, the 6th ACLA symposium was held in Vladivostok, Russia, with the theme "Urban Cultural Landscape and Urban Regeneration". It was the 6th ACLA International event. The Symposium was organized by Alessio Russo who worked as a professor in Landscape Architecture, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) at that time.
In 2018, while on vacation in Bali, Sung-Kyun Kim visited
several traditional villages, and gave guest lectures at two universities,
namely at Warmadewa University, with the title "Sustainable Village"
and at STIBA Saraswati with the title "Poetics of a Korean
Landscape". The theme also has a Nujeongwon, as the core mission of the
ACLA.
Towards the end of the year, 23 to 26 October to be precise, the seventh ACLA symposium was held in Ayodhya, India, with the theme “Pilgrimage Cities & Cultural Landscapes of Asia and prospects for Sustainable Tourism”. In sequence, this symposium is the 8th ACLA international event.
From 18 to 19 February 2019, Sung-Kyun Kim and the team held an ACLA-IFLA CLC workshop with the theme "Cultural Landscape as National Identity: illustrating Asia" (part 2), at Seoul National University, Korea, followed by visits to several places in his hometown, Mungyeong-si. Both of these days are the 7th (B) ACLA International Event.
Then, still in 2019, October 9-10 to be precise, he as the
keynote speaker attended the ACLA Conference in Johor, Malaysia, with the theme
"Perception and Aesthetics of Cultural Landscape in Asia", he
explained again about Nujeongwon. In sequence, this conference is the 9th ACLA International event. At the moment, Prof. Sung-Kyun Kim and Assoc.
Prof. Chun Hyun-Jin discussed about the next International ACLA event would be
held in Nanjing, China in middle of 2020. But, due to the pandemic, the event
was delayed for a year.
In the same year, on 17~19 October 2019, Prof. Sung-Kyun Kim
attended the ACLA Symposium, with the theme “Interfacing Environment, Law,
Sustainability & Cultural Landscapes of Asia”. It was organized by Sarvesh
Amigo, Gorakhpur University, and was held in Gorakhpur, India. This Symposium
as the 10th ACLA International event in sequence.
In mid-February to almost mid-March 2020, Prof. Sung-Kyun
Kim is in Indonesia, namely in Jakarta, in North Sumatra, in South Sumatra, in
West Java, namely in Bogor and Bandung. In Jakarta he gave a guest lecture at
the DKI Jakarta Parks and City Forest Service. In North Sumatra, together with
Anita, Lasmaria and Sumihar visited natural and cultural sites, traditional
villages and two museums. In South Sumatra he gave a guest lecture at ITERA,
and field trips. In West Java, he gave guest lectures at IPB and at ITB.
In fact, all of the guest lecture materials that come from
the results of research and design projects and even those that have already
been implemented are closely related to Nujeongwon. Because Nujeongwon's
philosophy and principles have become Sung-Kyun Kim's character.
Prof. Kim stayed in Bali for 12 days, from 1 to 12 March
2020. On that occasion, he continued to write research on the historical
relationship between the City of Ayodhya, India and the City of Gimhae, Korea.
He also expressed his intention to continue research on Nujeongwons throughout
Korea, and to make a kind of comprehensive book containing inventory documents
of the whole Korean Cultural Landscape.
Since returning to Korea, Prof. Sung-Kyun Kim visited
Bongyudongcheon Nujeongwon four times.
First, the day after returning from Bali, namely on March 14
2020, Sung-Kyun Kim stayed there for almost a week, then returned to Seoul, he
continued self-isolation in his office at SNU.
Second, Sung-Kyun Kim visited the Bonyudongcheon garden
again on April 5. He returned to Seoul on the evening of April 7, because he
has a lecture schedule for undergraduate students, namely "Landscape
Plants" via Zoom from his office at SNU on Wednesday, April 8.
Third, a visit to Bonyudongcheon park in the afternoon of
May 10, and he returned to Seoul in the afternoon of May 12.
Fourth, Sung-Kyun Kim visited his hometown again on the
afternoon of May 23. Prof. Kim is the chairman of the “Mungyeong City Policy
Advisory Group” and he has a scheduled meeting with the group on May 24th. After
the meeting, Prof. Kim and his group conducted a field trip in the city.
Sung-Kyun Kim stays for another two nights at Bongyudongcheon park. Prof. Kim
left at dawn and arrived back in Seoul on the morning of May 27, one hour
before starting lectures via Zoom from his office at SNU.
There is an international online lecture on the afternoon of
May 20, which was initiated by Assoc. Prof. Sonal Panday Tiwari, intended for
Masters students at the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, India.
Several ACLA members from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines
also took part in this lecture via zoom. This is the last international lecture
given by Prof. Sung Kyun Kim.
Prof. Sung-Kyun Kim still lectured SNU Landscape Architecture
students every Wednesday morning via zoom. June 3rd is the exam schedule for
that course onlinely via zoom. And the last face-to-face meeting will be on
June 10th, 2020 for 30 minutes. He said, "the students want to
see the professor."
On June 11 2020, Prof. Sung-Kyun Kim checked his health at
the university hospital because since June 6th he had experienced digestive
system disorders. That very day, June 11, he had to go into the emergency room
for digestive system support. On June 13, he was allowed to leave the hospital,
but he chose to stay in his office at SNU that night.
Prof. Sung-Kyun Kim left this mortal world, due to a disease
of the digestive system called "ileus" that suddenly recurred.
Sung-Kyun Kim "departed" from his house in Seoul (which has views of
Nujeongwon Nam-san, Bukhan-san and Inwang-san), at 4 pm Seoul time, Friday 19
June 2020. He, the originator, main founder, and the main carrier of ACLA's
mission in an organized manner for 11 years, returned to eternity.
The next year, the 11th ACLA International
event was held by Assoc. Prof. Chun Hyun-Jin. He continued the delayed ACLA
international event that was planned before the pandemic. He played the role of
the Chairman of Youth Committee, ACLA. The event was held in Nanjing University
of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, where he teaches as an Assoc. Professor
in The Art College. The Event was named as The 2021 ACLA International
Conference, with theme “Cultural Landscapes, Heritage Cities of Asia”. It was
in June 11 -12, 2021.
Just like the previous one, the 12th ACLA
International event was held also in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics. The event was completely named as “2023 The First International
Forum on Cultural Diversity Forum & The 12th International Symposium of the
Asian Cultural Landscape Symposium”. It was held on 16 ~ 17 June 2023, in Nanjing,
China. Assoc. Prof. Chun Hyun-Jin was the Organizing Secretary of the
international event.
THE NEW PRESIDENT OF ACLA
As the decision of the 12th / 2023 ACLA International
Symposium Offline Meeting Committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chun Hyun-Jin Ph.D.
(Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China) was recommended as
the new President of Asian Cultural Landscape Association (ACLA), dated on the
1st of July 2023.
And, after two days (from July 1st, 2023 to July 2nd, 2023)
of publicity, the committee did not receive any objections to the above
recommendation. Therefore, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chun Hyun-Jin, Ph.D officially serves
as the President of ACLA, in the period of July 3rd, 2023 to June 30th, 2028.
ACLA will continue to be dedicated to the research on Asian
cultural landscapes with Asian point of view, and welcome researchers and
scholars to jointly promote the development of the research on Asian cultural
landscapes.
The ACLA Secretary
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