SEUN SANGGA: SEOUL IN 1.2 KM BY KIMBERLY MARIE RAMRIEZ A SENIOR HONORS THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE THE FACULTY OF THE GERALD D. HINES COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON MAY 2020 1 2 4 Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank Paul Kweton and William Truitt for their help and patience this last year as I worked on this thesis. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to work with and learn from two very talented educators. To my family, I am eternally grateful for your support throughout my five years in school. To my dad, I thank you for all the mornings you checked on me as I kept working into the next day. To my brothers, Mike and Pablo, know that you both inspire me everyday to work hard towards the things I wish to achieve and accomplish. Raquel, I hope you know I look up to you and you inspire me to set higher goals. Kelly, I know it was frustrating waiting for me to finish studio so we could go home, now you can get home before 8 pm! Finally to my mother, I will work hard everyday to attempt and pay you back for all the sacrifices you have ever made for me. 5 6 Abstract Traditional Korean siting strategies place heavy emphasis on nature and specifically take advantage of topographic changes within the site. Further, studying the hybridization of Seoul’s public spaces within Jongno helps understand the balance between site, landscape, and community. The Seun Sangga, Korea’s first mixed- use residential and commercial complex, consists of eight buildings along half a mile. When constructed, the complex lost a lot of the traditional values tying the site back to nature. Studying the effects of rapid modernization and the hybridization of public spaces within the Jongno district, this thesis proposes to re-imagine the Seun Sangga buildings while studying their connection to nature and the Jongno community. 7 8 Thesis Studying the effects of rapid modernization and the hybridization of public spaces within the Jongno district, this thesis proposes to re-imagine the Seun Sangga buildings while studying their connection to nature and the Jongno community. 9 Contents SITING STRATEGIES WITH RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE 17 “They first destroyed and changed the existing urban structure and later protected it by postponing the gentrification of their surrounding areas in the fast changing city of Seoul” (Kim, Sungwoon). SEOUL IN SECTION WITH RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE AND VIEWS 27 “When individual structures are regarded as merely parts of the whole, collective building, the open spaces between these structures—such as courtyards, gardens or ponds—can even be considered interior space, in that they form an inseparable part of the building as a whole” (Jackson, Ben). RAPID URBANIZATION AND PUBLIC SPACE 35 “For Korea, the 1950s and 1960s were a period of postwar recovery and rapid industrialization, an industrialization that also prompted modernization in Korean society. Whereas modernization during the Japanese colonial period was led mostly by the Japanese and Korean elites and capitalists, modernization in the 1960s was a more general movement that influenced the lives of the general public” (Lee, Jae-young). HYBRIDIZATION OF PUBLIC SPACE WITHIN THE JONGNO DISTRICT 47 “‘Cultural hybridization’ is related to the relatively flexible formations of cultures in which subjects can move their positions around a cultural field” (Jeh-Hong, Ryu pg. 13). Contents SEUN SANGGA - KOREA’S FIRST MIXED-USE PROGRAM 57 “Wandering through the narrow lines of the Seunsangga area, one marvels at the intricacy of its dense urban space, and at the animation deep inside the tiny workshops, family restaurants, and small stores; all forming the bustling life that lies in the shadow of the modern architectural icon” (Malterre-Barthes 78). THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN SECTION, VIEWS, AND NATURE - SEUN SANGGA 67 “New developments characterized by their hard and fast execution, some pushed by the government, some on private initiatives, threaten to overwhelm this cultural richness” (Kim, Suengwoo). PRECEDENT STUDIES 77 Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong Sou Fujimoto’s Serpentine Pavilion PROPOSED PROGRAM AND DESIGN STRATEGY 89 WORKS CITED AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 121 12 Prospectus This thesis will outline what Pungsu-Jiri means to the Korean people and how it has been used at various scales of planning and building space. Continuing, it will layout the way the city of Seoul was designed and how over time various factors have contributed to the shift towards modern city we know today. Following, this thesis will pose the question of how the Seun Sangga complex sits within such a complex city and neighborhood, and how the relationship between a person, building, and neighborhood can begin to work better to connect program to other program and also out to the city and surrounding landscape. 13 14 For purposes of continuity, this thesis will use the common romanization of the Korean word: 세운상가 as “Seun Sangga.” 15 16 Siting Strategies With Relationship to Nature “They first destroyed and changed the existing urban structure and later protected it by postponing the gentrification of their surrounding areas in the fast changing city of Seoul” (Kim, Sungwoon). 17 18 Siting Strategies With Relationship to Nature Introduced to the Korean people by the Chinese, Pungsu-jiri (풍수지리) derives from the Chinese-term Feng-shui (風水), meaning wind and water, and remains an integral part of the Korean culture. Further, pungsu-jiri for the Korean people “Geomancy is not a clear cut superstition, religion or science, but an ancient Chinese system of site selection comprised of all three. Geomancy is defined as “a unique and highly systemised ancient Chinese art of selecting auspicious sites and arranging harmonious structures such as graves, houses and cities on them by evaluating the surrounding landscape and cosmological directions” (Yoon 7). Figure 01: 65% of the Korean Peninsula is mountainous area. The orange color to the left represents the mountainous areas within the peninsula, where the pink represents areas with little to no significant elevation changes. Park, Jinhee, and John Hong. Convergent Flux: Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism in Korea. Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, 2012. 19 plays an important role when designing cities within their somewhat complicated environment. With almost 63% of the Korean peninsula containing mountainous areas, a system for managing and developing cities is required, one which takes into consideration the value the Korean people place on nature and their community. Through pungsu-jiri, a site requires a harmonious balance between natural counterparts, including heaven and earth, fire and water, North and South, East and West. When locating a balanced site, a site must be considered myeongdang (명당), translating literally to “best side.” Ensuring that the site is perfectly balanced and ideal for either settling or building on. Figure 02: The royal tombs at Gyeongju designed along North and South and arranged in relationship the mountains in the distance. Ladner, Mimsie. “9 Things to See and Do in Gyeongju, Korea’s ‘Museum Without Walls’.” Culture Trip, The Culture Trip, 26 May 2018, https://theculturetrip.com/asia/south-korea/ articles/9-things-to-see-and-do-in-gyeongju- koreas-museum-without-walls/. 20 “Pungsu ‘wind-water’ or alternatively pungsu-jiri, ‘wind-water-earth principles theory’ is a system that involves either using compasses to calculate elaborate esoteric, astrological and numerical information, or deep spiritual intuition from a master of pungsu-jiri, to identify and appraise topographic features of the land. The purpose of this system of divination is to identify geographical features, especially mountains and the flow of water, that promote auspicious and harmonious energies” (Horank, Kevin). Essential aspects of pungsu-jiri include the selection of a site that embraces balance, referred to as Hyeol (혈) (Kim, Olivia). Hyeol directly translates to “blood,” but within siting strategies, it is representative of the point where positive and negative energies are balanced. While the top of a mountain is not entirely ideal “Key principles include settling with water to the front of your settlement and settling in valleys surrounded by mountain ranges that resemble specific creatures. The most noble of the creatures are the cardinal celestial animals and their mountainous forms are described as; the Black Tortoise to the North, Winding Blue Dragon to the East, Red Phoenix to the South, and the Rocky White Tiger to the West. Valleys that lie with mountains are ideal for setting and will further your connection to the heavens. This location also serves as a practical site for a settlement as it provides running water and a defensive position” (Kim, Olivia 16). for designing on, a valley would be considered to be hyeol, as it is considered to be where the connection between heaven and earth is strongest. 21 Figure 03: This diagram represents an ideal settling site according to the principles of punsu-jiri. Kim, Olivia Angeline. Cultural Expression; A Korean Embassy in the US. Diss. Virginia Tech, 2018. Korean sensibilities to site through pungsu-jiri are evident in the planning of Seoul. At the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty in 1394, the capital relocated to present-day Seoul. Korean siting strategies relative to landscape, building, and city are evident in Seoul. An ideal site conforming to pungsu-jiri establishes a “First and perhaps the most important condition is a landform of horseshoe shaped surrounding hills. The second is that there should be a watercourse in front of the site, although the site itself should not be wet. Thirdly, such a site should face a desirable direction which normally is southward including Southeast and Southwest” (Yoon, Hong-Key 7). 22 This diagram represents the city of Seoul and its relationship to the mountains Figure 04: to the North and South of the original plan.