Sayme Choi

At home in a globalised culture

Department: Social Design

I’m KOREAN

I’m KOREAN Due to mass consumer culture and globalisation, the Korean residential housing landscape has been rapidly filled with Westernised households since the 1980s. Alongside the structure and appearance of their houses, Koreans’ lifestyles and habits have changed. They have become relegated to mere consumers, representative of the fast-changing commoditised Western culture. However, their behaviour cannot be reduced to a single, unified ‘consumer taste’ as created by the global market. Recognition of this fact can lead to a proactive response and a definition of a ‘real home’. Finding this will help find the ‘real self’. This study observes, describes and analyses globalisation and the changes it triggers in non-mainstream cultures from a cultural and a designer’s perspective. Taking a critical look at Korean consumers’ blind affection for foreign-made products, it points out the efforts needed to protect cultures worldwide against becoming eroded by mainstream culture.