GHOST BARSTAIRS 2026: Art in Seoul Demolition Building
Sukchulmok and Kangyeon Lee showcase experimental furniture and sculpture inside a vacant concrete building in Sinsa-dong, Seoul.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- GHOST BARSTAIRS exhibition held in a vacant concrete building in Sinsa-dong, Seoul
- Combines Sukchulmok's experimental furniture with Kangyeon Lee's sculptures
- Explores the transitional space between demolition and future renewal
- Features independent plywood spatial interventions by BRBB in the basement
Design studio Sukchulmok and artist Kangyeon Lee present GHOST BARSTAIRS: Temporary Hypotheses, a temporary exhibition staged within a vacant reinforced-concrete building in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, just before its scheduled demolition takes place.
The project title outlines three core elements: GHOST, representing traces of vanished history; BAR, defining rigid lines of new structures; and STAIRS, suggesting vertical movement and layers. Natural light filtering from the basement to the rooftop illuminates the stripped structural frame, where experimental furniture intersects with sculptural art pieces.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Sukchulmok explores numerical proportions using stone, steel, and wood, featuring a central first-floor booth made of semicircular timber and a steel cone. Meanwhile, artist Kangyeon Lee draws upon his past production line experience to create metal and plastic sculptures that evoke anonymous figures lost in cycles of consumption.
Utilizing empty buildings slated for demolition as temporary art spaces highlights the growing architectural trend of adaptive reuse. This approach breathes ephemeral cultural life into abandoned urban structures, prompting audiences to reconsider the latent potential of spaces caught between their past identities and future developments.
Additionally, design practice BRBB introduces a spatial intervention in the basement, utilizing self-supporting curved plywood panels independent of traditional partitions. Photographed by Hong Seokgyu, the exhibition captures a fleeting interval where the building's former use has receded while its future remains blank.
Source: designboom
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