The Marmot’s Hole

Aug 26 was yet another fourth Sunday, which means it was time for the monthly Seoul architecture tour run by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.

This time around, we looked around the northern slopes of Mt. Namsan, Jangchung-dong and Dongdaemun, with our focus on the development of Korean architecture during the 1960s and 1970s. In particular, we looked at several works by Korea’s two greatest modern architects, Kim Swoo-geun and Kim Chung-up.

Tower Hotel and Freedom Center (1962-1965)

You’ve seen these buildings before, and here you see ‘em again.

The Tower Hotel and the Freedom Center, designed by Kim Swoo-geun, were built between 1962 and 1965 as one big complex monument to anti-communism following the 1959 meeting of the very colorful Asian People’s National Anti-Communist League (later the World Anti-Communist League and now the World League for Freedom and Democracy) in Seoul.

The tower was originally conceived as a monument to the nations that fought under the UN flag during the Korean War — it has 17 floors, one for each participating nation, including South Korea. The Freedom Center, meanwhile, was an anti-communist education center.

In 1969, the tower was converted into a hotel. Earlier this year, it was sold and is currently undergoing renovation. The Freedom Center, meanwhile, serves as the headquarters of the Korea Freedom League, the Korean branch of the World League for Freedom and Democracy. Nowadays, however, it seems more known as a wedding hall.

Like a lot of modernist buildings designed in the 60s, the Tower Hotel and Freedom Center use exposed concrete surfaces.

Sadly, Korea’s old city walls were partially town down to build the complex — some of its stones were actually used in the construction of the Freedom Center. Excavation work will soon begin to find traces of the old walls.

Kim Swoo-geun: Korea’s Albert Speer?

A lot of good could be said about Kim Swoo-geun (and I said a lot of it in my first post, and I’ll repeat some of it later), the man did land a lot of major government-connected projects — all with a very strong anti-communist bend (not that there’s anything wrong with that) — thanks to his cozy relations with Korea’s post-1961 military authorities, especially KCIA founder, former prime minister (twice!) and all-round shady character Kim Jong-pil. This is clear from a cursory glance at some of his major works — the Tower Hotel and Freedom Center; the Ekbatan Housing Complex in Tehran, Iran (1975), Olympic Main Stadium (1977), Incheon Landing Memorial Hall (1982), the National Police Headquarters (1983), Seoul District Court Complex (1984), Army Academy Tower (1986), and perhaps most notoriously, the former security facility in Namyeong-dong where Park Jong-cheol, a student activist, was killed undergoing water torture in January 1987, helping spark the massive pro-democracy protests of June of that year.

Like a lot of architects, Kim was willing to make “deals with the devil,” so to speak. A while ago, a reader sent me this piece (from which I took the above) by a German doctoral student at SNU that appeared last year in left-wing online news site Redian, discussing Kim’s work and his record of collaboration with Korea’s military dictators. As it says, “In Korea, there weren’t any architects who became ministers like Albert Speer, Hitler’s official architect, but there was clearly an architect who helped realize the ‘philosophy’ of the coup ring.”

Post continues below… with a ton of photos.

National Theater of Korea (1968-1973)

The National Theater of Korea has bounced around quite a bit over its history — it began its life in the colonial era as the Bumingwan on Sejong-no (now the Seoul Municipal Assembly Building) before moving to Myeongdong. In 1973, it moved to its present home on Mt. Namsan.

The current building was designed by Yi Hit-ae, who along with Kim Swoo-geun and Kim Chung-up was part of that first generation of post-colonial Korean architects, and constructed between 1968 and 1973. It’s been considerably renovated and expanded since then, but the basic structure of the Main Theater remains the same.

In the 1960s, Korean architects tried to tackle the question of how to merge modernity with tradition. The National Theater of Korea reflects this. Yi took the basic structure of Korean traditional architecture — base, middle and roof — and expressed it in concrete. You can also see the numerous Korean traditional motifs, such as the base pillars, the columns and the steps leading to an elevated first level. You can see something similar in the in the Gyeongju National Museum, which was also designed by Yi.

Jeonggakwon Hall (formerly the Sungjeongjeon Hall), Dongguk University

Now located on the campus of Dongguk University, the Jeonggakwon Hall is not your everyday Buddhist shrine. In fact, the building was originally the main throne hall, of Sungjeongjeon, or the Gyeonghuigung Palace. The hall was built in 1617, and managed to avoid damage in a fire that destroyed much of the temple in 1829.

Following the annexation of Korea by Japan, however, the Gyeonghuigung was gradually disassembled, with the Sungjeongjeon being moved to Jogye-sa Temple in 1926. It eventually ended up in Pil-dong, where the Buddhist-affiliated Dongguk University was later built.

Aside from the Buddhist altar where the throne used to be, the building is typical of Joseon-era palace architecture.

Supyogyo Bridge

Nearby in Jangchungdan Park is the Supyogyo Bridge, the present reconstruction of which was completed (probably) in 1768.

The bridge, which used to cross the Cheonggyecheon Stream, takes its name from the watermark pillar that used to stand nearby. The bridge was moved from the Cheonggyecheon in 1959, when work began on covering up the stream. It found its current home in 1965.

Jangchung Gymnasium (1963)

Yup, it’s the Jangchung Gymnasium, built in 1963 and designed by Kim Jong-su.

When it was first designed, the building was supposed to be a reinforced concrete shell, but it ended up as steel-frame construction. The stadium was Korea’s first structure capable of holding 10,000 people. In the 1960s, Korean architects challenged themselves to create large-scale spaces using new structures and materials — steel-frame construction and prefabrication came into their own at this time. The Jangchung Gymnasium is representative of this period of challenge.

Kyungdong Presbyterian Church (1980-1981)

In an interview earlier this year, I asked Yoo Hong-jun, the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, which pieces of modern architecture he thought would eventually become cultural properties. He answered, “Some of Kim Swoo-geun’s buildings.”

I’d imagine Kyungdong Presbyterian Church would be high on the list. It certainly isn’t Kim Swoo-geun’s most imposing work. But it is one of his masterpieces.

Kim changed a lot in the wake of the controversy regarding his 1967 design of the Buyeo National Museum, which — as you’ll notice — looks disturbingly similar to a Japanese Shinto shrine. In particular, he worked hard on reabsorbing Korean traditional architectural concepts and making them his own. Central to this was the concept of humanism — that architecture should focus on the user. Accordingly, buildings should be on an intimate, human scale. Like in a Korean home, space should naturally link the unit spaces within, and it should be multifunctional. Architecture should link inner and outer space, not artificially separate the two.

If Kim’s earlier works were monumental structures that reflected Le Corbusier and Kenzo Tange, his later work were reflections of his own architectural world.

Kyungdong Presbyterian Church begins with an open plaza that connects with the main road, welcoming all. To the right is a long flight of steps that head to the entrance of the church, which is located in the back of the building. This path, called the Meditator’s Walk, gives you a chance to prepare yourself for worship. This also provides a nice transitional space between the noisy outside world (this is Dongdaemun, after all) and the peaceful world of the chapel. The exterior is covered in unevenly broken red brick, an architectural expression of ecumenism — just as all the individual bricks form one mass, all are one within God. They also give the church a human, intimate feel.

The main tower, which some say looks like someone praying, symbolizes the prayer that the Kingdom of Heaven will one day present itself in the living world.

The interior, too, reflects the themes of ecumenism and community, and brings to mind a catacomb. Judging from photographs, it’s absolutely stunning, but you’re a luckier man than I if you ever manage to see it — I’ve visited the church four times, and it’s been locked every time. Apparently, it costs a pretty penny to keep the place lighted and air conditioned, so they open it only for services, which are at 7:30pm on Wednesday and 10:00 and 11:30am on Sunday.

I’m on vacation for the week, so if I don’t head down to Mokpo tomorrow, I’ll try to pop by and snap a few shots.

There’s also an open space on the roof, an “open church,” where services are held as well as celebrations and cultural events.

Jangchung-dong Jeoksan Gaok

This is a textbook example of a jeoksan gaok, or old Japanese home. There are a ton of old Japanese homes in Jangchung-dong, which used to be a residential district for wealthy Japanese during the colonial era. Few of the remaining homes, however, are as beautiful as this one.

The home is currently unoccupied.

Gwanghuimun Gate

You know, a lot of folk don’t even know that there’s a gate here. Built in 1717 and restored in 1975, Gwanghuimun Gate was used (along with Seosomun) to remove dead bodies from the capital during the Joseon era.

Former Seo Gynecology Clinic (1965)

Korea’s rapid development during the 60s and 70s emphasized function and utilitarianism, and the architectural “heritage” left behind from this period — row upon row of ugly concrete apartment blocks — still malign the Seoul cityscape.

Nevertheless, there are jewels in the rough if you know where to look. The former Seo Gynecology Clinic is one of them.

Located just across the street from the Gwanghuimun Gate, this unique-looking building was designed in 1967 by Kim Chung-up, who is regarded along with Kim Swoo-geun as a pioneer of Korean architecture.

When we talk about Kim Chung-up, we’re talking about Le Corbusier, the French architectural great who had a tremendous influence on Kim and his work. Kim had spent four years in Le Corbusier’s studio in France, and in fact, Le Corbusier apparently told Kim right before he returned to Korea that his homeland was too small for his talents.

The construction of the Seo Gynecology Clinic almost proved him right — 1965 Korea wasn’t an easy place for a visionary architect, and lack of proper materials and limited local construction technology forced a very frustrated Kim to significantly alter his original design.

Still, what Kim eventually produced in a rather pretty piece of architecture with an obvious late Le Corbusier feel — the fluid curves, the heavy walls of unadorned exposed concrete. The various sections of the building seems to flow together like an organic being. In the balconies, you can also see the influence of another architect Kim greatly admired, Antoni Gaudi.

Kim’s most famous work is the French Embassy, which I’ll be seeing in October. Another note about Kim — unlike Kim Swoo-geun, Kim Chung-up never completely mastered the art of kissing dictator ass, and he was virtually exiled to France in 1971. He worked in France and the United States until 1978, when he returned to Korea, where he remained until his death in 1988. Kim’s poor relations with the Park Chung-hee administration are somewhat ironic, given that his mentor, Le Corbusier, apparently never met a dictator (regardless of ideology) he didn’t like — when he wasn’t pitching to Mussolini a new colonial capital for the recently conquered Ethiopia, he was submitting designs for the Palace of the Soviets, the great Stalinist monument that never was.

Oh, and oddly enough, among the new occupants of the building is a Mongolian restaurant in the basement.

Dongdaemun Stadium

Dongdaemun Stadium was born in 1926, although most of the present facilities — including the baseball stadium you see here — were built in 1962 and 1968. Lights for night games were installed in 1966.

The football stadium was closed in 2003 and is now used as a flee market. The baseball stadium, meanwhile, continued to be used until last week, when the last high school baseball tournament to be played in the stadium took place. By 2010, the Dongdaemun Stadium area will be turned into a park designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid — see the design photos here.

Cheonggyecheon Stream

Yep, it’s the Cheonggyecheon, or more specifically, the Ogansugyo Bridge, the site of an arched floodgate during the Joseon era.

The Cheonggyecheon might not look like much, but it’s a major improvement over what was there before, and former Seoul mayor and GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak might very well sail it all the way to Cheong Wa Dae.

Dongdaemun Gate

We finished up at Dongdaemun Gate, the Great East Gate of old Seoul. Rebuilt in 1869, the gate has the distinction of being Treasure No. 1 (Namdaemun, which dates from 1396, is National Treasure No. 1).

Sunday was fun in that the City was kind enough to open up the gate to the tour group, allowing us to climb up and take in Jongno from the gate’s pavilion.

* Some of the photos from Kyungdong Presbyterian Church and Seo Gynecology Clinic were taken the day after the tour.