In order to put the 21st century paradigm into practice, a philosophy is established by “knowing oneself, and maintaining the right attitude”. Thus, Korean contemporary design will be able to acquire universal sympathy and competitiveness when designers fully understand Korean thought.
Abstractness Directed toward "Chun"
The most remarkable characteristic of Korean philosophy is the thought of “Chun (heaven, 天)”. Koreans have a deep desire to become one with “Chun”, and carry nostalgia for heaven. Thus, Korean art contains a spirituality directed toward “Chun”.
The Dangun mythology provides a basis for the belief that Koreans were originally people of “Chun”, through the story of Hwan-ung. It also indicates that the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism formed a unified truth within Korean minds. Therefore, the ultimate goal of human completion for the Korean is to become a “Chun-like human”. Thus, Korean design also seeks a “Chun”-like design. So such thinking appears in the physical form of “flight” and eventually moves to “Bi (flying)” toward indiscriminative “chaos”. The slightly turned up corners of Korean pagodas, the patterns and flying angel images on The Great King Seongdeok Bell, the curves and proportions of Korean traditional costumes, roofs of Korean buildings, etc., are all good examples. In Korean thought, heaven does not manufacture, but contains everything. Thus, the expressions in Korean design are pure, bright and simple. Perfect depictions of the realistic shape or highly mechanical finishes are not preferred. This results in abstractness.