Housing is an economic issue that is ever present in news and presidential elections, as well as in daily conversations. Ecology in Concrete takes a different approach to this topic. It captures the birth, growth, demolition, and rebirth of apartment buildings through the stories of the people involved. Planners or architects who created the policies, actual tenants, real estate brokers, re-developers, and those who have previously resided or plan to reside in the apartments are all related. The vivid growth and changes these people underwent reflects the experience of the apartments. Information and emotion thus coexist. Perhaps this is why the film criticizes Seoul’s city planning that is haphazardly made rather than planned out, but is not merely looking at the systematic or structural outcomes. It interprets architecture as a place of human residence. It smoothly hones in on this dimension of Korean society by fluidly weaving together public and private memories.
