• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.11-22
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• 2008

This study aims at clarifying the circumstances under which the Korean Pavilion was constructed at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition, and major architectural features of the pavilion building, In particular, this thesis studies the construction history of the Korean Pavilion newly developed by Comte de Mimerel on the part of France following the sudden death of Baron Delort de Gleon during the construction of the Korean Pavilion, as well as architectural features of the draft design. The Korean Pavilion designed by Comte de Mimerel completely reproduces Keunjeongjeon of Gyeongbok Palace, faithfully complying with the then design tendency of the exposition. Mr. Young Chan Min, the Vice Chairman of the Seoul Organization Committee, positively participated in the construction process, and traditional carpenters in Chosun, together with Mr. Young Chan Min, were dispatched to Paris to engage in the construction of the pavilion building. This is substantially in contrast to the earlier design. According to the analysis in this study, although the Korean Pavilion designed by Comte de Mimerel was primarily built with the fund of the French Government and under the French architectural system, as a result of the Korean Government's positive participation in the construction process, it was decided to use Geunjeongjeon, the symbol of Chosun, as a model of the pavilion, and therefore, the Korean Pavilion was recognized by the Europeans as a monument of complex and sophisticated civilization. Furthermore, commercial and colonialistic expressions, which were found in the earlier plan, are rarely found in the Korean Pavilion designed by Comte de Mimerel, and we can see that this is the result of the attempt to fully reproduce Geunjeongjeon, the major building of the Chosun royal court, in building the Korean Pavilion.