Mass Studies was founded in 2003 by Minsuk Cho in Seoul, Korea. The firm describes its practice as:

a critical investigation of architecture in the context of mass production, intensely overpopulated urban conditions, and other emergent cultural niches that define contemporary society. Amid the many frictions defining spatial conditions in the twenty-first century, namely past vs. future, local vs. global, utopia vs. reality, and individual vs. collective, Mass Studies focuses on the operative complexity of these multiple conditions instead of striving for a singular, unified perspective. For each architectural project … Mass Studies explores issues such as spatial systems/matrices, building materials/techniques, and typological divergences to foster a vision that allows the discovery of new socio/cultural potential.

Minsuk Cho was born in Seoul and graduated from the Architectural Engineering Department of Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) and the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University. With partner James Slade, he established Cho Slade Architecture in 1998 in New York City to be engaged in various projects both in the US and Korea. In 2003, he returned to Korea to open his own firm, Mass Studies.

Cho’s awards include The Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers in 2000 for his work at Cho Slade Architecture and two US Progressive Architecture Awards (Citations), for Von Erlach House in 1999 and Dalki Theme Park in 2003. The Dalki Theme Park was exhibited at the theme exhibition of the 2004 La Biennale di Venezia.

His work includes Pixel House, Dalki Theme Park, Nature Poem, Boutique Monaco, Seoul Commune 2026, S-Trenue, Ann Demeulemeester Shop, Xi Gallery, and the Korea Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010.

Support

This lecture is cosponsored by The Korea Society and The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union. The League gratefully acknowledges Alan Wanzenberg for his support of this program.  This program was made possible in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.