Building the Seoul YMCA (1900s-1910s)
One of the earliest references to Korea getting a modern, dedicated association building was printed in an annual report forContinue Reading
Tag: architecture
Auguste Joseph Salabelle: Gojong’s Little-Known French Architect (1888-1891)
UPDATE – October 12, 2019: This essay is now better described as a collaborative text, having been updated with contentContinue Reading
Modifying Joseon Architecture (1884-1905)
The Westernization of Korean buildings in the late nineteenth century was not a planned stylistic shift, nor was it anContinue Reading
The Influence of Giyōfū Architecture and 19th Century Japan on Early Modern Korea
Almost a decade after Charles M. Dyce characterized the compradoric style of Chinese open ports, a Japanese art critic coinedContinue Reading
The Compradoric Style: Chinese Architectural Influence on Early Modern Korea
Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, the building and infrastructural demands of Western merchants on the Bund at Shanghai gave riseContinue Reading
Tatsuno Kingo: The Face of an Empire
Early modern architecture in Japan went through a series of distinct phases. One of these phases was a certain kindContinue Reading
Traces of the Imperial Crown Style in Colonial Korea
The Imperial Crown Style was a genre of Japanese modernist architecture generally found in 1930s-1940s government buildings. It appears toContinue Reading
Mokpo
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
Miryang
Miryang sits in a basin made by the Nakdong River which, though fairly mountainous, is just above an important plainContinue Reading
Jinhae
Strategically placed in the middle of a natural harbor, and even further protected from possible Russian naval attacks by theContinue Reading
Busan (7)
Gangseo-gu In 1927, socialist writer Cho Myeong-hui described the Nakdong River as being “the mother’s milk of many lives” inContinue Reading
Busan (6)
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
Busan (5)
Dong-gu Overview Choryang was a fishing village, which was reportedly ‘“difficult to walk about in the fishing season because ofContinue Reading
Busan (2)
Yeongdo After the port’s opening in 1876, the lands in the northern part of the island of Yeongdo, formerly knownContinue Reading
Daegu (1)
Any discourse on the colonial modernization of Daegu must be centered around the construction of Daegu Station and the dismantlingContinue Reading
Jinju
Jinju is a very old city. Touted as having a thousand-year history, it used to be known as Goryeonggaya prior toContinue Reading
Daejeon (1)
Daejeon was a product of colonial modernization, becoming so important that it later replaced Gongju as the seat of powerContinue Reading
Tongyeong
Tongyeong is a small, but noteworthy, connective point along the southeast coast of Korea. Named after the Samdosugun Tongjesayeong (삼도수군통제사영) navalContinue Reading
Guryongpo
Just to the east of Pohang lies the community of Guryongpo. An eup under Pohang’s jurisdiction, it was at one point theContinue Reading
Sorokdo
Sorokdo’s tragic past stands as a historic example of human rights abuse – particularly abuse committed under the name ofContinue Reading
Colonial Korea 