A study on the artwork policy for buildings in South Korea from the perspective of cooperative governance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Implementing the artwork policy for buildings necessitates collaborative governance, with diverse entities actively participating. In South Korea’s artwork policy for buildings, the review committee exclusively selects the final artwork, blinding the artist’s information for reasons of fairness. This inadvertently overlooks the artist’s crucial role and obscures the work’s planning and procedural aspects. Under the current policy, there is no opportunity for artists and architects to cooperate. The building owner submits the plan for artwork when reporting the building’s construction and after completing the architectural design. In other words, consideration of artwork usually begins after completing an architectural design. In addition, the building owner is mainly responsible for selecting artists, analyzing sites, and developing the artwork concept. In predominant private development, private agencies representing building owners possess greater decision-making authority, yet there is insufficient scrutiny of their competence and ethical considerations. While local governments navigate improvements within the central government’s mandated laws, inherent limitations constrain their progress. Private development, privately owned but designated as public art, engenders tension between private autonomy and governmental intervention. Systematic reorganization is imperative, starting with a dichotomy between private and public development to address these intricate issues comprehensively.