Early Modern Architecture in Korea
Building typologies at the outset of Korea’s opening in the nineteenth century widely varied between rudimentary and engineered. Cultural influenceContinue Reading
Explore missionary building design and construction in Volume 95 of Transactions, published this year (2021) by the Royal Asiatic Society,Continue Reading
It was almost the summer of 1905 when the Minneapolis Journal published a brief paragraph describing a local designer’s newContinue Reading
The American Oriental Engineering and Construction Company was a building products supplier of sorts founded in Seoul in the earlyContinue Reading
By the 1920s, Korea’s urban spaces had become aesthetically diverse. Remaining buildings typified by nineteenth century East Asian open-port architecture,Continue Reading
In certain academic and religious circles, architect Henry Bauld Gordon (1854-1951) has been recognized as having a noteworthy role inContinue Reading
When American collegiate architectural design arrived in Korea in the 1910s, architecture built according to actual Western construction methods hadContinue Reading
At the turn of the twentieth century, Seoul was filled with a variety of contractors and craftsmen from abroad. TheContinue Reading
UPDATE – October 12, 2019: This essay is now better described as a collaborative text, having been updated with contentContinue Reading
Land and property ownership in Korea between the 1880s-1900s was somewhat chaotic. Due in part to locals’ unpreparedness, the situationContinue Reading
Explore the origins of Seoul’s most iconic religious structure in Volume 93 of Transactions, published this year by the Royal AsiaticContinue Reading
Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, the building and infrastructural demands of Western merchants on the Bund at Shanghai gave riseContinue Reading
Early modern architecture in Japan went through a series of distinct phases. One of these phases was a certain kindContinue Reading
The Imperial Crown Style was a genre of Japanese modernist architecture generally found in 1930s-1940s government buildings. It appears toContinue Reading
Before the rise of reinforced concrete, brick was the heart and soul of many an early modern building in Korea.Continue Reading
Over the course of Korea’s colonization, the construction of thousands of machiya and other Japanese clapboard buildings altered Korea’s traditionalContinue Reading
Art Deco architecture in Korea, which came during the colonial period, is an extremely understudied topic. Some are of theContinue Reading
Situated in the middle of Korea’s southern coastline, the micro-peninsula of Yeosu was heavily influenced by Japanese settlers and WesternContinue Reading
At the end of the 19th century, the area around Suncheon had long been known as an important military andContinue Reading
A small ocean-side village sat on the tip of the South Jeolla province during the Joseon period. Estimated as having only eighty householdsContinue Reading
Iksan was established as a colonial town in the middle of the Honam breadbasket at the turn of the twentiethContinue Reading
Ganggyeong-eup was an important colonial river port during the Japanese occupation. As industrialization swept the peninsula in the 1960s andContinue Reading
Miryang sits in a basin made by the Nakdong River which, though fairly mountainous, is just above an important plainContinue Reading
Strategically placed in the middle of a natural harbor, and even further protected from possible Russian naval attacks by theContinue Reading
Cheongdo The county of Cheongdo (Cheongdo-gun) was named centuries before Korea’s early modern period back in 1343. Its modern administrativeContinue Reading
Despite being set apart from the rest of Busan, the island of Gadeok-do actually falls under the jurisdiction of theContinue Reading
Gangseo-gu In 1927, socialist writer Cho Myeong-hui described the Nakdong River as being “the mother’s milk of many lives” inContinue Reading
Nam-gu The majority of the hill houses in Uam-dong and Munhyeon-dong appear to be from the 1960s, with perhaps a handfulContinue Reading
Dong-gu OverviewChoryang was a fishing village, which was reportedly ‘“difficult to walk about in the fishing season because of itsContinue Reading
Colonial Korea