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South Korean Architecture in the Postcolonial

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South Korean Architecture in the Postcolonial South Korean Architecture in the Postcolonial Era Phil-Seong Choi MArch (History & Theory) The University of New South Wales 1998 ABSTRACT The study aims to confine and stimulate discourses on Orientalism and Postcolonialism in South Korean architecture. While those issues are dynamically examined and carefully justified in such Commonwealth countries as Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, they have rather been ignored and eluded in the historically, culturally, or even economically colonised countries in northern Asia including South Korea and Japan. In order to investigate the current situation in South Korea, its architectural developments in recent history in the 20th century are analysed by looking at the Japanese Invasion in the first half of the century followed by the immense westernisation in the postwar period on their architecture. Modernism in Japanese architecture is briefly studied by referring to the projects that Kenzo Tange and the Metabolist architects assuredly experimented in the 1960s and 70s with reference to western architectural trends such as ‘megastructure’, ‘plug-in construction’, and so on. Also, Australian critic Robin Boyd’s representation of Japanese architecture to the west in the 1960s is comprehended as an aspect of cultural colonisation. Having compromised with both Japanese and western modern paradigms that affected almost every social and cultural aspect since the late 19th century, architectural historians and academics in South Korea recently began to debate on the Postcolonialism by re-examining the early modernist architects and principles. Two influential Korean architects, Jung-Up Kim and Su-Geun Kim, are selected for case studies and the conflicting paradigms of a major architectural trend between tradition and colonialism is arguably assessed. TABLE OF CONTENTS Sources of Figures a I. Introduction 1 II. The Advent of Western Modernism in Japan and Korea 2.1 Early Modern Architecture in Japan (1868-1945) 4 2.2 Implantation of Western Architecture in Korea by Japan (1876-1945) 6 III. Westernisation of Japanese Modernism 3.1 Kenzo Tange (b. 1913) and the Metabolism 11 3.2 Representation of Japanese Architecture by Robin Boyd (1919-1971) 17 IV. Colonial Impacts on South Korean Architecture 4.1 Modernisation of South Korean Architecture in the Postwar Era 24 4.2 South Korean Modernists 4.2.1 Jung-Up Kim (1922-1988) 27 4.2.2 Su-Geun Kim (1931-1986) 30 V. The Emergence of Postcolonial Debates in South Korea 33 VI. Conclusion 36 Reference 40 SOURCES OF FIGURES SOURCES OF FIGURES • Figure 1. Trading Affairs Building, South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); ‘Korean Modern Architecture within the Universalism of the 1960s’ from Space; vol. 28; no. 3; The Space Group Co.; Seoul; p.29 • Figure 2. Japanese Red-cross Seoul Office, South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); p.29 • Figure 3. E-Mun-Dang, South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); p.31 • Figure 4. Gunma Music Centre, Japan ROSS, Michael F (1978); Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architectures McGraw-Hill Book Company; New York, p. 19 • Figure 5. Harumi Apartment, Japan ROSS, Michael F (1978); p.19 • Figure 6. Peace Memorial Museum, Japan BOYD, Robin (1962); Kenzo Tanges George Braziller; London/New York; p.52 • Figure 7. Boston Bay Development, project BOYD, Robin (1962); p.56 • Figure 8. Helix City, project BENHAM, Reyner (1976); Megastructure: Urban Futures of the Recent Pasts Thames and Hudson; London, p.56 • Figure 9. City in the Sky, project BENHAM, Reyner (1976); p.56 • Figure 10. Montreal Expo Entertainments, project BENHAM, Reyner (1976); p.91 • Figure 11. Osaka Tower, Japan ROSS, Michael F (1978); p.56 • Figure 12. Capsule Homes Tower, project ROSS, Michael F (1978); p.57 • Figure 13. Youth Castle, Japan BENHAM, Reyner (1976); p.99 • Figure 14. Section of the Boston Bay Development, project BENHAM, Reyner (1976); p.49 • Figure 15. Section of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, project BENHAM, Reyner (1976); p.12 • Figure 16. Section of the Wohnberg structure, project BENHAM, Reyner (1976); p.203 • Figure 17. Le Corbusier’s Model of the Prefabricated cell for Unite d’Habitation ROSS, Michael F( 1978); p.69 • Figure 18. General view of the Nakagin Capsule Building, Japan ROSS, Michael F (1978); p.76 • Figure 19. Construction view of the Nakagin Capsule Building ROSS, Michael F (1978); p.71 • Figure 20. Gropius and Boyd in Australia SERLE, Geoffrey (1995); Robin Boyd - A Life; Melbourne University Press; Melbourne; p. 158 SOURCES OF FIGURES • Figure 21. Gropius in Japan ISAACS, Reginald (1991); Gropius: An Illustrated Bibliography of the Creator of the Bauhaus; Little Town; Boston; p.276 • Figure 22.1966 Shikenchiku competition winning project BOYD, Robin (1968); New Directions in Japanese Architecture; George Braziller; London/New York; p. 18 • Figure 23. 1967 Shikenchiku competition winning project BOYD, Robin (1968); p.20 • Figure 24. The Saint Mary Hospital, South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); ‘Korean Modem Architecture within the Universalism of the 1960s’ from Space; vol. 28; no. 3; The Space Group Co.; Seoul; p.31 • Figure 25. Dong-Do Building. South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); p.36 • Figure 26. The UNESCO Centre. South Korea KIM, Bong-Yeol (Apr/1993); ‘Implication of Modernism of the 60s on Contemporary Korean Architecture’ from Space; vol. 28; no. 3 ; The Space Group Co.; Seoul; p.24 • Figure 27. Details of the French Embassy, South Korea KIM, Jung-Up (1984); Jung-Up Kim: The Light and Shade of the Architect, Yeol-Hwa-Dang; Seoul; p.42, 46, 52, 53 • Figure 28. Main office of the French Embassy, South Korea Editor (Dec/1992); ‘The French Embassy in South Korea’ from Space', vol. 27; no. 11; The Space Group Co.; Seoul; p.84 • Figure 29. Entrance View of the French Embassy, South Korea Editor (Dec/1992); p.85 • Figure 30. Roof and columns of the French Embassy, South Korea Editor (Dec/1992); p.87 • Figure 31. Main campus of Che-.Tu University, South Korea KIM, Jung-Up (1984); p.66 • Figure 32. Soe Obstetrics, South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); p.33 • Figure 33. 31 Office Building. South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); p.37 • Figure 34. Su-Geun Kim’s own office. South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); p.35 • Figure 35. Walkerhill Hilltop Bar, South Korea PARK, Kil-Ryong (Apr/1993); p.33 • Figure 36. The Peace Centre. South Korea KIM, Bong-Yeol (Apr/1993); p.25 • Figure 37. Bu-Yeo Meseum. South Korea KIM, Bong-Yeol (Apr/1993); p.26 iii I. INTRODUCTION Subsequent to the diverse discourses on Orientalism and Postcolonialism in socio­ cultural and political studies in the 1970s and 1980s, today’s consideration of cultural aspects in various parts of the world seem to be confined and explained by the two issues. In terms of understanding the present situations of (post)colonised cities, either physically or culturally, the influences and impacts from the once or now colonising power-source are extracted and discussed by reflecting on their genius loci. However, in such East Asian countries as China, Japan and South Korea, theories of Orientalism and Postcolonialism, which seemingly claim to be universally debatable, have not been discussed as actively as in the areas once colonised by the British including India, Hong-Kong, Singapore and Australia where English is the official language. In South Korea, for instance, whose whole peninsula was colonised by Japan from 1910 to 1945 and was near-governed by the U.S.A. during and after the Korean War (1950- 53), the endeavour to rehabilitate its national identity is stronger than ever in its history. But the delicate issues within the country are still treated rather marginally and in a naive manner. Some commentators are eager to elicit the impacts of colonisation on their history (KIM, Bong-Yeol, 1992, 1993; SUNG, In-Su, 1997), while others intend to obliterate the persecuting complex by fixing their vision only towards the future and ignoring any colonised memories. Another barrier to the proper investigation of early Korean Modernism is the dearth of research materials. As a result of the demolition due to the subsequent wars of the 1940s and 50s followed by the national development procedure since the 1960s, historically I. INTRODUCTION significant buildings and written materials constructed during the Japanese era are hardly retrievable. Due to the extremely limited range of research materials on Korean architecture written in English most articles were photocopied and delivered from South Korea, which left the illustrations in undesirable condition. The situation in Japan, however, in terms of exchanging cultural elements with the western world appears different from that in Korea. While the westernisation of Korean culture was delivered unilaterally and repressively by the Japanese for the most part, that of Japan was done rather collaterally and voluntarily. In other words, historic issues on westernisation are more emotively and cynically debated among the Koreans than the Japanese. Considering the different aspects of cultural exchange in Japan and South Korea, the realisation by Japan of its own culture is understood within the framework of the non- Japanese debate on Orientalism which argues the Otherness of the East represented by the West (SAID, Edward, 1978). On the other hand, the debates on national and cultural identities among Koreans are compared with Post-colonial deliberations which are based on the self-realisation of the colonial memories. In order to discuss the procedures and impacts of westernisation in Japan and Korea in this century, architectural developments with reference to the Modernism of the West in both countries in the same period will be examined and analysed. In the Japanese chapter the influences from the Western world on Japanese Modernism are examined by referring to the education and oeuvre of the Modern master in Japanese architecture, Kenzo Tange, especially his participation in the movement of Metabolism since the Second World War.
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