These are very strange times in the Republic of Korea when you have a Brit suing a Swede over what constitutes a traditional Korean-style house.
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These are very strange times in the Republic of Korea when you have a Brit suing a Swede over what constitutes a traditional Korean-style house.
9 Comments
Good article. and good to see that there is at least an attempt at preservation, and trying to do it through both building codes and financial incentives. Places like Hong Kong lack them almost completely. That said, they need to take action when the law is skirted. And its so obvious the owner and the builder were both lying on the new construction (’basement with a first story’) and committing fraud by using money that was supposed to go for preservation towards new construction instead.
Looks like a neat area. Wonder what the rates there are for a home.
There _is_ such a thing as a 2 storey Hanok, though rare and mostly (not exclusively) a late 19th century downtown Seoul phenomenon and there are still a few around Jongno and Myeongdong if you look hard enough.
I doubt there were ever any in Bukchon, however. Too many uptight Yangban.
Although the foreign owner is the owner of record and hence the actual party to the suit, it seems from the article that the prime mover here may be builder Lee Mun-ho of the Jaho construction company, who the article suggests have been systematically reconstructing the entire block where the dueling Europeans are located. I’d say there’s enough smoke there to warrant a further article investigating if there aren’t also some flames.
Looks like the British guy has been royally teed off about this for some time:
http://www.kahoidong.com/
If there is indeed such a 2-story hanok then I would say that they should be allowed. Maybe allow the area of 2nd storey to be a percentage of the first floor in order to keep a one-storey feel. It would allow some increase in density which would be justified in central Seoul.
As noted elsewhere, Koreans are mostly horrible at “restoration” projects; they do not pay attention to material, i.e., matching wood grain, style, etc. and do not focus on quality. Many a construction company look at quality as something they buy and install, like a granite facade. Though, as the Marmot has pointed out in the past, some Koreans are very thorough in their restoration projects, such care is an exception and not the rule.
It is truly sad when a foreign, objective viewpoint is closer to the truth than those who should have a vested interest in preserving their own culture. This is why I sometimes feel like I am a more informed citizen of Korea than some who were born here and that should not be the case.
“As noted elsewhere, Koreans are mostly horrible at “restoration” projects; they do not pay attention to material, i.e., matching wood grain, style, etc.”
I’ve seen this over and over, rebuilding historical sites with total disrespect for the original techniques and material. Just look at the many fortresses that have been restored. Some sections of the walls have the original small unevenly spaced bricks that could be easily moved by hand, while the new sections have large blocks that must way 2 tons each tightly fit together.
‘Weigh’, not ‘way’. Sorry. I noticed it too late.
Better than in China, where restorations of temples are solid concrete. The ‘restoration’ is usually an expansion of some temple made by some city’s party secretary in the misguided notion that it will be the centerpiece of that city’s bid to be a city of tourism. It ends up being to big to maintain well, and so feels trashed and desolate. Party secretary or whomever doesn’t care, they made money off of construction kickbacks.
The Chinese really think they can attract foreign tourists by building big rather than with attention to original materials and detail.