born into the world with no possessions and leave without a trace. Hanok are similar; all that remains is the foundation. The philosophy of life that Koreans live by is still apparent in a hanok, whether modern or traditional in style, and the concept of harmony with nature is constant.
It is now over fifteen years since I returned to Korea and I can say unreservedly that my relationship with my homeland is one of love above anything else because of my deeper appreciation of all that it has to offer. My hope is that readers will appreciate and understand the Korean hanok as a piece of architectural history, as a way of preserving Korean culture and as a thing of beauty.
—Nani Park
Colorful contemporary art of a woman in traditional Korean dress creates an attractive contrast between new and old in a room with a traditional paper-covered floor.
Introduction
Awalk through Seoul brings to mind bibimbap, the colorful mixed rice and vegetable dish that has come to represent Korean food in the minds of many. Like bibimbap, Seoul has distinct forms of architecture that mix to create the electric unified whole that defies easy description. To many, this “mixed Seoul” appears light gray at first glance, but it soon turns that image on its head as bold colors and unique designs catch the eye upon closer examination.
The “mixed Seoul” of today, of course, is a new city, a product of nearly a half century of rapid economic growth since industrialization began in the early 1960s. Before the boom, Seoul looked more uniform as traditional architectural ideas and practices created a more orderly cityscape. Seoul was founded in 1394 as the capital of the Joseon Dynasty that ruled Korea until 1910. From its founding to the end of the nineteenth century, Seoul was an ocean of tile and thatched roofs with official buildings popping up like islands. All buildings in Seoul were built of wood and used natural materials, such as stone and paper. Like many Asian cities, a wall surrounded the city and only residents were allowed on the inside after dark. Four large gates and four smaller gates in the wall controlled the flow of people and goods into the city.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, foreign powers, both Western and Asian, began to fight for hegemony over Korea. Japan eventually won the day and subjected Korea to colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. During the late nineteenth century, foreign missionaries, diplomats and traders brought Western architectural styles to Korea and brick churches and multi-floor box-like buildings began to pierce the traditional cityscape. The streetscape changed, too, as roads were widened and paved to make way for streetcars.
The Japanese colonial period brought rapid change to Seoul as Japan sought to integrate Korea deeply into the Japanese economy. As part of that effort, Japan turned Seoul, which it had renamed as Keijo, into a regional administrative city that was subservient to central power in Tokyo. Japan built imposing public buildings, some of which remain today, to house modern Japanese institutions: schools, hospitals, post offices and police stations. Many of these buildings were built on sites that once held detached palaces and other official buildings. Architecture related to Korean cultural heritage, meanwhile, was recast to represent Korean culture as “local culture” within greater Japan. Many of the buildings in Gyeongbokgung Palace, for example, were demolished (most of the wood, stones and roof tiles were reused) and the headquarters of the colonial government was built on the grounds in 1926, leaving the remaining palace buildings as touches of local color for tourists.
The later years of Japanese colonial rule brought industrialization and a surge in the population of Seoul. Japan’s seizure of Manchuria in 1931 and invasion of China proper in 1937 turned Korea into an important base for military operations. Seoul became a magnate for people from other regions of Korea and from Japan proper. The city expanded beyond the wall, and parts of which were destroyed to make way for roads and buildings. The housing shortage of the 1920s became acute in the 1930s, forcing the colonial government to encourage the construction of new housing. Large plots of “developable land” inside the wall were divided into small plots to allow for greater density and new areas of tract housing outside the wall were developed.
The housing boom in the 1930s stimulated the development of new forms of residential architecture. One of the most experimental forms was the “city hanok” that emerged in the late 1920s and 1930s. The word hanok is used to refer to traditional Korean houses of various sizes. Han means “Korea” and ok means “house.” As a genre of residential architecture, the hanok is most noted for its use of heated floors, known as ondol, which originated thousands of years ago in the Korean Peninsula for heating in the cold winter. The ondol heating system used timber to heat a fire in a stove next to the house. Heat from the fire spread under the floor, heating the stones in the process. Smoke escaped through a chimney, and the stones of the floor were covered with oiled paper to prevent any smoke from coming into the room. The same fire was also used for cooking. Because timber was limited, heated rooms were small and had small windows. Hanok also had unheated rooms with wood floors. These rooms were larger, had more windows and were used mainly in the warmer seasons.
Over thousands of years, the hanok has adapted well to the Korean climate and the practical needs of residents. The mixture of heated and unheated rooms saves energy and helps make the house comfortable throughout the year. Below the tiles on the roof is a layer of dirt that helps insulate the house in the winter and cool it in the summer. The eaves of the roof are short enough to allow sunlight to enter the house in the winter but long enough to keep it away during the summer. The eaves also help keep rain from hitting the house, which protects the wood. The posts sit on stone bases, which prevent them from rotting. The paper windows breathe and allow light into the house but keep out wind and help retain heat in the winter.
Like other types of vernacular architecture, hanok were built by master carpenters who designed the house on site, often as it was being built. The process of building a hanok starts with preparing the stone bases and the foundation for the heated floor. The frame of wooden posts and beams goes up next, followed by the roof. After the frame and roof are up, the walls of clay and rice straw are built and the floors are put in. The final stage of construction consists of attaching the windows and papering the heated floors, walls and windows. Traditionally, hanok were built of the following four elements: wood, stone, clay (including roof tiles) and paper. A small amount of iron was used for hinges and locks.
Spending time in a hanok allows you to observe its many practical and artistic details. Designs at the end of roof tiles, for example, use a wide range of playful motifs based on symbolically important flowers, mythological creatures and Chinese characters.
The size and structure of a hanok varied with social class. Aristocrats lived in estates that consisted of several elegant structures with tile roofs. The men’s quarters, or sarangchae, was where the senior man of the house lived, studied and entertained guests. It combined elegance with minimalist aesthetics. The women’s quarters, or anchae, was larger and was where women lived and raised children. The kitchen was attached to this part of the house. The two parts of the house were close to each other but were separated by a wall. Estates also had a number of servants who lived in the servants’ quarters, or hengnangchae, located near to the other two buildings. Behind the kitchen was an area for storing kimchi and other condiments. Many estates also had a small ancestral shrine, or sadang, that was used in annual ceremonies in honor of ancestors. Peasant houses, by contrast, were usually a simple structure with a few rooms and a thatched roof. In Seoul and several other provincial centers, lower-ranking bureaucrats and merchants lived in smaller houses with tile roofs.
Built on small lots that were divided from larger lots, city hanok applied traditional hanok building
