Jung Youngsun was the first Korean woman to earn the title of land development engineer. Her work fostered a new sensitivity to rehabilitation and the creation of green spaces, both in urban settings and in various public and private domains, focused on designing not only for nature but also for communities, creating resilient and sustainable havens.

Jung Youngsun: “Landscape architecture can be a poem written on earth and it can resonate deeply. Just as the sight of a rainbow in the sky makes our hearts skip a beat, I hope that the gardens we tend, stroke, and nurture will be a source of inspiration and a moment of healing and recovery for all.” Youngsun’s work incorporates living materials, favouring native species that enhance the beauty of the void. The social role of landscape architecture is exemplified in Jung Youngsun’s work through the creation of harmonious spaces for socialisation, contemplation, and meditation, which unlock the regenerative powers of nature.

“For All That Breathes On Earth: Jung Youngsun and Collaborators” recounts and documents the breadth of her practice, which has always aimed to give locations a distinct spatial identity rather than merely linking buildings and their surroundings. The exhibition design incorporates traditional Korean wood-building techniques.

Among her projects, the exhibition highlights those designed and built for major international events, such as the Seoul Olympics, the Asian Games, the Daejeon Expo, and Incheon International Airport. These ambitious state-led projects, which presented opportunities for economic, cultural, and technological advancement, inspired Jung Youngsun to leave teaching and enter the field of landscape architecture in earnest, founding the landscape architecture firm Seo-Ahn Total Landscape (STL) in 1987.

Since the 1980s, she has been dedicated to reclaiming urban suburbs by creating facilities for leisure, sports, art, and tourism—designing captivating environments that enhance nature’s self-healing properties. During this period, she developed an archetypal resort suited to Korea’s mountainous terrain. She also established arboretums and botanical gardens where nature and humans coexist and interact harmoniously. These include the Amorepacific Botanic Garden, composed solely of plants used in cosmetics, and the Asan Medical Center, a forested space where families and patients can mourn in peace, comforted by nature, which nourishes both body and spirit.

Jung Youngsun has also worked extensively on the restoration and regeneration of the Han River, creating a sequence of parks aimed at improving the river ecosystem through self-healing wetlands. By connecting aquatic spaces, she has revitalized areas that had been cemented over and become degraded. The dialogue between nature and architecture has always been central to Jung Youngsun’s research in landscape architecture, as has the equally fundamental relationship between land, ecosystems, and people.

Jihoi Lee, curator of the exhibition: “For All That Breathes On Earth: Jung Youngsun and Collaborators in Venice will further echo our efforts in revealing the profound relationship between the built environment, landscape and ecology. As a landscape architect, Jung has explored the interdependence of life through designed environments, with water as one of her central elements. Her renowned work, Seonyudo Park, a former industrial site transformed into a water-purifying ecological park, exemplifies this vision. Presented at SMAC, in a city shaped by its own aquatic balance, I hope the exhibition fosters a dialogue on resilience and sustainability, inviting audiences to reflect on our sharedresponsibility for all that lives and breathes.”

Jung Youngsun (b. 1941, Gyeongsan) is a seminal figure in Korean landscape architecture, renowned for redefining the discipline’s role in urban and ecological contexts. Since founding Seo-Ahn Total Landscape in 1987, Jung has led transformative projects that bridge design, environmental stewardship, and cultural memory. Her work—spanning Seonyudo Park, Cheonggye Stream Restoration, Gwanghwamun Plaza, and Seoul Botanic Park—has been instrumental in raising public awareness about the social and ecological significance of landscape design.

A consistent advocate for ecological resilience and biodiversity, Jung has integrated native species and site-specific ecologies into her projects long before such practices became standard. Her designs prioritize the long-term vitality of landscapes through strategies rooted in contextual sensitivity, habitat preservation, and the symbiotic relationship between natural systems and urban life.

Jung’s contributions have been internationally recognized with honors including the IFLA Award of Excellence, ASLA Award of Merit, and the AIA Architecture Honor Award. In 2023, she became the first Korean laureate of the IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award, the field’s highest distinction. Often referred to as the “godmother” of Korean landscape architecture, Jung continues to shape the field with a vision grounded in ecological ethics, cultural continuity, and design for the future generations.

This exhibition presents the works by Jung Youngsun and Seo-Ahn Total Landscape with their collaborators including ARCHIBAN, BCHO Architects, Choo Architects, David Chipperfield Architects, design studio loci, Fentress & Bradburn Associates, Grafton Architects, Hanrahan Meyers Architects, HNS, Ilkun Architects, IROJE, JUNGLIM Architecture, Kang Gi-hyo, Korean Landscape Architecture, La Forêt, Mario Botta Architetti, M.A.R.U., Mass Studies, Min Hyunsik, SAMOO Architects & Engineers, Sampoong Engineering, Sul Myonggi, UBAC, U-ONE Architects, Woo & Williams and more.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
Director Kim Sunghee
Chief Curator Kim Inhye
Director of Exhibition Division Song Sujung
Senior Curator Park Soojin

Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the occasion of the KOREA-ITALY Year of Cultural Exchange, 2024-2025
Sponsored by AMOREPACIFIC, Sulwhasoo, Samsung Foundation of Culture
Patronage by the Municipality of Venice

Curated by Lee Jihoi
Curatorial Assistant Kim Hyoyeon
Exhibition Design Kim Yongju, Park Jimin, Yoon Jiwon
Exhibition Graphic Design hongbaksa
Registrars Lee Giljae, Han Jiyoung
Educator Hwang Jiyoung
Educational Assistants Kim Dayeon, Jeon Sang A, Lee Jiyoon, Lee Seulki, Yang Jinyi
Production Joosung Design Lab, Seojin Plan

Established in 1969, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) has emerged as one of Korea’s preeminent arts and culture institutions, sharing its history with the course of Korean modern and contemporary art.

The MMCA currently operates four venues; MMCA Gwacheon opened in 1986, MMCA Deoksugung at Seoul’s Deoksugung Palace opened in 1998, MMCA Seoul opened in 2013, and MMCA Cheongju opened in 2018.

MMCA Seoul is a multipurpose museum that houses a full range of contemporary art and serves as the face of Korean modern and contemporary art. MMCA Deoksugung specializes in modern art, focusing on Korea from the 1900s to the 1950s. MMCA Gwacheon focuses on research and family-oriented art, broadening the horizons of art history into the areas of architecture, crafts, prints, and design while also providing a full experience with its Children’s Museum. MMCA Cheongju is located in a former tobacco factory that has been repurposed as “visible storage,” specializing in the curational life cycle of its collected works and its stages of research, preservation, and exhibition.

As a leading cultural institution, the MMCA plays a pivotal role in shaping and disseminating critical discourses within the field of contemporary art, positioning itself as a dynamic site for intellectual inquiry, creative education and the cultivation of aesthetic engagement through rigorously curated exhibitions.