• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.675-687
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• 2014

After colonization by the Japanese Empire, Seoul had experienced structural changes during the 1920s. As the number of residents increased dramatically, the land price of Seoul began to skyrocket, bringing about a new type of real estate developers. They invented a new type of hanok, which is very small compared to a traditional hanok, by dividing a large parcel of land into several small pieces. These hanoks were built by Korean developers who ran their business like modern developers today-acquiring large piece of land, developing and selling the property, and even providing financing schemes to buyers in some cases. However, the Korean developers mainly provided housing to the poor Koreans suffering from housing shortage. At the time, many Koreans worried that the City of Seoul would turn into a Japanese city, since the Japanese were trying to expand their real estate development to the north of Cheonggyecheon. However, their development plans have been neglected, as a result of the development activity of the Korean Jerry-builders in the north. The purpose of this paper is to reevaluate the role of the Korean developers in real estate development during the colonization period, especially in the 1920s.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.138-148
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• 2022

The 1920s and 1930s were when new trends became prominent in Korean housing architecture. This study began with a curiosity about the appearance of residential gardens during the transition period, when housing types were changing. Since gardens are constantly evolving and living spaces, it is not easy to give a clear picture of their evolution. However, through popular magazines and newspaper articles published in the 1920-30s, this study investigated how people perceived the gardens socially and how they engaged in gardening. First, the study of Gyeongseong's urbanization process revealed that people perceived gardens as a way to give natural beauty to the urban environment. Therefore, the creation of a residential garden was strongly encouraged. Second, the housing improvement movement, which the architects actively discussed during this period, emphasized that a garden is a factor that can help improve the quality of the residential environment in terms of hygiene and landscape aesthetics. Third, since the media provided information on gardening, it was confirmed that the number of people engaged in gardening as a hobby increased. As designers and gardeners who had received a modern education became more active, the concept of "designed gardens" was formed. Lastly, although the houses were divided into various types, the shapes of the gardens did not show a significant difference according to the architecture type. They tended to embrace the time's ideal garden design and style. Therefore, even in a traditional hanok, Western-style gardens were naturally harmonized into the overall architecture, and exotic plant species could be found. Although the gardens found in media images were limited to those belonging to the homes of the intelligentsia, it can be seen that representativeness was secured, considering the popularity and ripple effect of the media. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature as it confirmed the ideal gardens and gardening methods in the 1920s and 30s.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.439-448
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• 2010

Furniture world which is closely associated with human life had been constantly developed, but traditional furniture disappeared after modernization almost. The reason lies rather in the importance of the diversity of Western-style furniture pursuing convenience and shapes, than in change of life style meanwhile. The diversity however reached the limit and it made a new advanced role of not only furniture, also design sector in general necessary, and as solution to solve this problem the immaterial value based on Eastern philosophy/mental was suggested in architecture and all around design sector overall as well. It means that the immaterial point which traditional furniture involved should be focused now and furthermore it's emotional and mental value which is more natural and has close relation with human being accordingly could be judged rightly. The reason why traditional furniture had been used since long time is the immaterial tendency which is well harmonized with the surrounding environment rather than the function. To verify this, the present study aimed to analyze not only the basic, also additional function of traditional furniture used in Hanok (traditional Koran-style house) by the inductive method for investigating the additional effects which users felt. Such immaterial role offers the user more convenience besides the original function of furniture and this made it available that furniture dominates the space. As good examples of such roles it was investigated that traditional furniture played meaningful roles like extensional serviceability, variable space, formation & movement of space, expression of grade of rank. That allowed that this study suggested the sustainable design and also the direction of development of interactive function of furniture through the expected effect having been showed in the modern space where the immaterial role of traditional furniture was applied to and the related cases.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.33-52
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• 2022

The History and Culture Park and the Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall will be built in Songhyeon-dong, Seoul. Political games from the Joseon Dynasty to the present greatly influenced the historicity of Songhyeon-dong. However, place analysis was limited to changes in landowners and land uses rather than a historical context. Therefore, this study analyzed the context in which the placeness of Songhyeon-dong changed according to the emergence of cultural hegemony using the perspective of modern cultural geography and comparative history. As a result of the analysis, cultural hegemony in historical transitions, such as Sinocentrism, maritime expansion, civil revolutions, imperialism, nationalism, popular art, and neoliberalism, was found to have created new intellectuals in Bukchon, including Songhyeon-dong, and influenced social systems and spatial policies. In this social relations, the placeness of Songhyeon-dong changed as follows. First, the founding forces of Joseon created pine forests as Bibo Forests to invocate the permanence of the dynasty. In the late Joseon dynasty, it was an era of maritime expansion, and as Joseon's yeonhaeng increased, a garden for the Gyeonghwasejok, who enjoyed the culture of the Qing dynasty, was built. Although pine forests and gardens disappeared due to the development of housing complexes as the population soared during the Japanese colonial era, Cha Gyeong's landscape aesthetics, which harmonized artificial gardens and external nature, are worth reinterpreting in modern times. Second, the wave of modernization created a new school in Bukchon and a boarding house in Songhyeon-dong owned by a pro-Japanese faction. Angukdongcheon-gil, next to Songhyeon-dong, was where thinkers who promoted civil revolution and national self-determination exchanged ideas. Songhyeon-dong, the largest boarding house, served as a residence for students to participate in the March 1st Movement and was the cradle of the resulting culture of student movements. The appearance of the old road is preserved, so it is a significant part of the regeneration of walking in the historic city center, connecting Gwanghwamun-Bukchon-Insadong -Donhwamunro. Third, from the cultural rule of the Government General of Joseon to the Military Government, Songhyeon-dong acted as a passage to western culture with the Joseon Siksan Bank's cultural housing and staff accommodations at the U.S. Embassy. Ancient and contemporary art coexisted in the surrounding area, so the modern and contemporary art market was formed. The Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall is expected to form a cultural belt for citizens with the gallery, Bukchon Hanok Village, the Craft Museum, and the Modern Museum of Art. Discourses and challenges are needed to recreate the place in harmony with the forests, gardens, the street of citizens' birth, history and culture park, the art museum, and the surrounding walking network.