KOREAN ARCHITECTURE

Prepared by: Fernando Dominic C. Alfonso

Vocabulary1. Anbang: matron’s room located in

anchae of hanok 2. Anchae: women’s quarters, or inner

quarters of hanok 3. Bueok: Kitchen 4. Byeonso: Restroom 5. Byeoldang: Separate House located in

the back of the main building 6. . Chogagip: Thatch roof which was

bountiful by product of rice cultivation

7. Cheong wa dae: Blue house for the blue tile used for its roof

8 . Changho: Windows and doors 9. Chodang: The house of unmarried

daughters lived 10. Daecheong: Main hall of wood-floored

maru in hanok11. Giwagip: clay roof tile were made of

clay from rice paddy field12. Hanok: traditional Korean house with

wood-frame construction 13. Hanji: Korean traditional paper

14. Jangdokdae: Jar stand 15. Madang: Yard or courtyard 16. Maru: raised wooden floor 17. Numaru: Verandah 18. Pyeong: standard area measurement

unit, about 3.3 square meters 19. Pungsu: (fengsui); geomancy based on

“wind and water”20. Sarangchae: master’s quarters 21. Seodang: The house for unmarried boys

to study 22. Umul: Well23. Yangban: Upper class people

South Korea is located in the Southeastern corner of Asia. North part borders with China, Amnok and Tuman Rivers, South across with sea and lies to Japan.

Approximately 75% of the surface area of Korea is covered by mountain and mountain ranges.

There are four distinct seasons with the averages of temperature around 10oc- 20 oc. Korean summer is hot and high humidity, winter is very cool, Cool and windy in spring time as well as extreme cold and winter to autumn.

Introduction of Korean Architecture

Korean buildings are structured vertically and horizontally.

A construction usually rises from a stone sub foundation to a curved roof covered with tiles, held by a console structure and supported on posts.

Walls are made of earth (adobe) or are sometimes totally composed of movable wooden doors.

Korean architecture is built according to the k'a unit, the distance between two posts (about 3.7 meters), and is designed so that there is always a transitional space between the "inside" and the "outside."

The console, or bracket structure, is a specific architectonic element that has been designed in various ways through time.

Historical Architecture in Korea

Prehistoric Architecture First inhabitants of the Korean peninsula

used caves, rockshelters, and portable shelters. The earliest examples of pit house architecture are from the Jeulmun Pottery period.

Early pit-houses contained basic features such as hearths, storage pits, and space for working and sleeping.

Log houses were built by laying logs horizontally one on top of one another.

Elevated houses, which probably originated in the southern regions, are believed to have first been built as storage houses to store grains out of the reach of animals and to keep them cool.

In the Mumun period buildings were pit dwellings with walls of wattle and daub and thatch roofs

Raised-floor architecture first appeared in the Korean peninsula in the Middle Mumun, c. 850-550 BC.

Megaliths, sometimes called dolmens, are the burials of important and prestigious persons of the Mumun Pottery Period (1500-300 BC)

Proto Three Kingdoms Period Ondol (온돌 ), the Korean floor panel

heating system, was found in the architectural remains of early Protohistoric.

Three Kingdoms Period Common Architecture - some people lived in pit-houses while others

lived in raised-floor buildings. Fortress Architecture - Goguryeo, the largest of the Three Kingdoms,

is renowned for its mountain fortresses built horizontally and vertically along the incline of slopes. One of the well-preserved Goguryeo fortresses is Baekam fortress (白巖城 ) constructed before 6th century in present-day South-West Manchuria.

Baekam Fortress

Religious Architecture- The construction of Buddhist temples was

enthusiastically undertaken after Buddhism was introduced in 372 by way of northern China.

- Temples were built in a Goguryeo style known as "three Halls-one Pagoda," with each hall in the east, west and north, and an entrance gate in the south.

- In most cases, the centural pagodas had an octagonal plan.

Hwangnyongsa Temple, Gyeongju, South Korea

Eastern stone pagoda of Mireuksa Temple

Western stone pagoda of Mireuksa Temple

Royal Architecture- Many palaces are recorded as having

been built in Baekje. Some traces of them can be found at both Pusosansong, the third palace of this kingdom, and at the site of Kungnamji pond.

Cheomseongdae, Royal Observatory

Tomb Architecture- In Goguryeo two different types of

mortuary architecture evolved during this period: one type of burial is a stepped pyramid made of stone, while another is a large earth mound form.

- -Murals in tombs dating from Koguryo also reveal a great deal about the architecture of that period as many of them depict buildings which have pillars with entasis.

Tomb of the General

Hwangnam Great Tomb

Unified Silla Dynasty Architecture Religious Architecture- The plans of Buddhist temples were

characterized by two pagodas in front of the central main hall in a symmetrical layout on the north-south axis with other buildings.

Royal Architecture - Architecture flourished in the royal

capital of Gyeongju

Bulguksa Temple, North Gyeongsang, South Korea

Seokgatap Pagoda (left of the court) Dabotap Pagoda (right of the court)

Koryo Dynasty Architecture- Much of the architecture in this period

was related to religion and influenced by political power/ kingdom.

- Many buildings such as magnificent Buddhist temples and pagodas were developed based on religious needs, as Buddhism played an important role in the culture and society at the time.

- most of the architecture from this period was built of wood.

Muryangsujeon, Buseoksa Temple

Daeungjeon Hall of Sudeoksa Temple

Choson (Joseon Dynasty) Architecture- Neo-Confucianism inspired new

architectural paradigms.- Jaesil, or clan memorial halls, became

common in many villages where extended families erected facilities for common veneration of a distant ancestor.

- Jongryo, or memorial shrines, were established by the government to commemorate exceptional acts of filial piety or devotion.

South gate, Namhan Mountain Fortress

Choksuk Gate of Jinju fortress.

Fortress Architecture

Religious Architecture

Rare wooden pagoda on the grounds of Beopju Temple. A Buddhist temple.

Jongmyo, royal ancestral shrine

Royal Library in the grounds of the Secret Garden in Changdeok Palace

Gyeonghoeru, a royal banquet hall of Gyeongbok Palace.

Royal Architecture

Traditional Architecture

A Commoners homes

Colonial Period Architecture- During the Japanese occupation in the

colonial Korea era, there was an attempt by the colonial government of the Empire of Japan to replace Korean architecture with Japanese Architectural Traditions.

- Korean people resisted the Japanese nationalist agenda by building traditional Korean “hanok” homes, such as the houses of Jeonju village.

Hanok

Modern Architecture- Distinct architectural styles determined

by foreign governments began a long period of development.

- In the north, Stalinist and absolutist, often brutalist architecture, was championed.

- In the south, American models defined all new Korean buildings of any importance, with domestic architecture both civil and rural keeping to traditional buildings, building techniques, and using local materials, and local vernacular styles.

Post Modern Architecture

Condominiums in South Korea (Samsung Tower Palace)

Post War Period and Korean War Architecture

Ryugyong Hotel

Modern Architecture

Independence Hall of Korea

Sports Architecture

Seoul World Cup Stadium

Post Modern Korean Architecture

Hyundai Park Building

Traditional/Vernacular Architecture of Korea

Hanok- Hanok is a term to describe Korean

traditional houses. Characteristics- Since Korea has hot summers and cold

winters, the 'Ondol,' a floor-based heating system, and 'Daecheong,' a cool wooden-floor style hall were devised long ago to help Koreans survive the frigid winters and to block sunlight during summer.

MaterialsWood- Pine tree is the most popular for Hanok.

Pine tree is a hard wood which can adopt in many cases with sunlight and water rain

- Application (Maru, pillar, door, and window frame)

Clay- Clay have been used for making tiled roofs

(Giwa).- Tile roofs usually occupied by the nobility,

such were expensive and not considered affordable by common people.

Thatch- Before using tile people had used plates

of wood and bark but most were covered with bundles grass

- The common people in rural area use thatch for Hanok roof known as “Chogagip”

Soil- Soil is the important material for roof

structure, wall and cord-yardPaper- Korean paper is a traditional hand make

which called “Hanji”. Hanok use Hanji for interior walls, doors and windows.

Structure- Hanok architecture was divided in three

mains structure; Foundation, body house, and roof part.

- The opening floor exterior called “Maru” which was made of wood to storage grains and link rooms.

- The shapes of Hanok differ regionally. Due to the warmer weather in the southern region, Koreans built Hanok in a straight line like the number 1. In order to allow good wind circulation, there are open wooden floored living area and many windows.

- The shape of the most popular Hanok in the central region is like letter "L" or Korean letter "ㄱ ", an architectural mixture of the shapes in the northern and the southern regions.

- Hanoks in the cold northern region, are box-shaped like Korean letter "ㅁ " so that it would be able to block the wind flow in building Hanoks. They do not have an open wooden floored area but the rooms are all joined together.

- The structure of Hanok is also classified according to social class: Yangban and Choga

- Typical yangban (upper class) houses with giwa (tiled roof) emphasized not only the function of the house, but also possess great artistic value.

- The houses of the commoners (as well as some impoverished yangban) with choga (a roof plaited by rice straw) were built in a more strictly functional manner.

Architectural Context- Korean traditionally using geomancy to

select residence site, following the belief that topographical configuration generation invisible force of good or ill, the negative and positive energies, men or women (Yin or Yang) must be brought in to the balance.

- A house should be built against a hill and face to the south to receive as much sunlight as possible, but usually the house has river or stream in front and hill in the back.

Spatial Arrangement- The shape of the house was fine to organize the

space in the family but generally in the lot of Hanok should be has garden or yard (madang), kitchen (bueok), Jar stand (jangdokdae), well (umul), and restroom (byeonso).

- A Korean traditional house has an inner wing called “Anchae” and the outer wing called “Sarangchae”.

- The main building was a place for women including the mistress and was located on the most inner part of the house. It was consisted of the inner room or the main living room, the inner Daecheong, a room across from the main living room, and the kitchen.

- The men’s part of the house was a place for serving the visitors or gathering and promoting friendship among neighbors or relatives, or instructing the young.

- In Korean traditional house, the living spaces were organized according to the class. There were Servants’ Quarters in wealthy house, in which the servants stayed or the crops were stored.

- In some large families, there was a Separate House called Byeoldang in the back of the main building. If unmarried daughters lived there, it was called Chodang. The house for unmarried boys to study was called Seodang.