The first question asked while conducting a cultural regeneration project to a cultural base space in Wanju cultural city, was who the owner of the space is. This is because the space can have vitality after it is prepared only when it is regenerated from the perspective that the people who will use it, not the person who made it, are the owners.

Citizens who visit the space should be able to become owners with a sense of it being ‘our’ space, not the users to temporarily use the provided amenities. Of course, in order to have such a consciousness, it was necessary for citizens to take the initiative from the first step of determining the necessities and directions of space creation. This is why Wanju-gun set up a citizen design planning team to decide on the use of the former Samrye train station.

The owners of spaces are the people who will use them, not who made them

From local food to Wanju cultural city creation projects, Wanju-gun has made great efforts to revitalize the community. This soon became the characteristic of Wanju-gun’s features, and this wave is expanding more valuably, encompassing not only the existing county citizens but also the lives of returnees, rural residents, and multicultural families who have started a new life in Wanju. 

In the end, Wanju's base space regeneration project focused on creating and revitalizing citizens’ communities. It has a very different texture from projects that temporarily revitalize the region by removing old buildings and redeveloping them or holding festivals or events. They decided the base space must be used for revitalizing the citizen-centered cultural communities, and citizens should be active main agents of the local cultural space. Of course, there is a limit to the power of citizens alone, so policy-level support and expert participation should go in tandem with them.

Spaces changing in accordance with the opinions and movements of the users

On the matter of what kind of space citizens really want, Wanju-gun arranged a meeting to collect their opinions before beginning the regeneration of the old Samrye train station. The six-week workshop of the Citizen Design Planning Team was overflowing with vivid opinions and suggestions. Various and ingenious opinions poured out to the extent that architects and design team experts had to follow breathlessly.

"I don't want the design to be fixed in setting the functions here. I hope you find ways the users can freely set the space considering the functions depending on the situation."

The walls that separate the space of Da:Haeng are installed as variable sliding walls following the opinion of the design planning team, allowing the space to be expanded and divided according to the user's use and scale.

"We always go to see good cultural spaces, but at some point, it is natural the number of tourists or visitors will decrease. I think this is because they keep showing the same things over and over again. I hope the space should not stick to a single theme, but a space where the contents can change depending on the activity."

In the space of Da:Haeng, there are no affixed ‘titles’ limiting the function and roles of the space. In accordance with the users’ activities, the function and roles of the space can be set freely.

Thanks to the 42-day journey to a lively space that is aligned more closely to citizens’ lives and where citizens visit frequently, and the Wanju Citizen Design Planning Team, who were willing to sacrifice their precious weekends and join the workshop, visitors of Da:Haeng are happy today, too.

1. ‘Extend,’ A space to imagine together

A space where you can a variety of different spaces using movable walls that can be connected to the central lounge.

- Recommended events: meetings, education, workshops, performances, exhibitions, etc.

- Supplies: beam projector, screen, folding tables, folding chairs, etc.

2. ‘Do,’ A small-scale network space

A small space for independent use utilizing movable walls

- Recommended events: meetings, education, small-scale workshops, etc.

- Supplies: beam projector, screen, folding tables, folding chairs, etc.

3. ‘Film’, A one-person studio for creating contents 

A space where video contents can be d

- Recommended events: video production, non-face-to-face meetings, video shoots, etc.

- Supplies: Computer, webcam, lighting, chroma key, recording microphone, etc.

4. ‘Maple’, A shared kitchen sharing the food culture of each other

A space for all cultural activities using food such as gift-sharing, networking parties, education, etc.

- Recommended events: cooking classes, small gatherings of communities, meetings, education, workshops, etc.

- Supplies: cooking utensils, microwave oven, refrigerator, triple burner induction cooktop, tableware for 10 people