‘Griffis Collection' is a collection of photographs of Japan and Korea in modern era, collected by William Elliot Griffis. Originally Mr. Griffis was studying about Japan when he developed an interest on Korea, and started to collect helpful materials he could find to study. Later days of Griffis’ life, he donated his research to Rutgers University Library, and those materials were named and preserved as Griffis Collection. This paper is about photographs that illustrate modern Incheon and Hansung, and study them in order to discover how Korea’s modern cities and architecture were formed and built. In total, there is four categorized chapters of photographs, and those are cities, public buildings, educational facilities and private buildings. In Griffis Collection, there are 23 photos those are relate to this paper’s subject, but only 19 of them that has historic value has been covered in this paper. In results, all 19 photos were proved that they have significant information in terms of historic research of modern Korea and Korea’s modern architectural stages.
This study aims to rediscover the meaning and value of Soswaewon construction represented in Kim In-Hu's 48 poems on the basis of the concept and idea of soundscape. It classified the landscape resources through the various emotional elements such as the sense of sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and warmth described in the 48 poems of Soswaewon, and also interpreted the meaning and value of Soswaewon construction. Appreciating various sounds of Soswaewon, Kim In-Hu understood a sound as an important element of the landscape. Also, he abundantly wrote down the interesting changes of Soswaewon which vary depending on time or seasons. The 48 poems contain the scent and feel of Soswaewon as well as the soundscapes which can be heard with ears. A variety of sounds heard in Soswaewon are the whole senses which are combined with the chill of Soswaewon, the fragrance of trees and the mystery of the mountain, etc, and they mean the wider world much more than the value of physical sounds. Soundscapes of Soswaewon are becoming an emotional space which intactly conveys not only the musical inspiration but also the scent of life to us.
The purpose of this study is to critically investigate the ways in which scholars and architects in Korea have theorised the tradition in Korean architecture from the early 20th century to the present. After opening the door to foreign powers, the most important issue to be resolved in Korea architecture has been the modernization of the traditional architecture. The successful modernization of Korean traditional architecture depends on successful theorization of the tradition. However, many attempts to theorise the uniqueness of tradition in Korean architecture had not been instrumental to the modernization of Korean traditional architecture. The reason why they were not successful lies in the lack of philosophical and methodological reflection upon how to approach the tradition. They were either trapped in ambiguous essentialism without systematic methods and theories, or simply inventing the tradition from the vantage point of the present. This paper argues that in order to theorise the tradition, one need to translate the tradition into contemporary architectural vocabularies. What is important in translating the tradition is not to directly apply contemporary concepts and perceptual frame of architecture to traditional architecture but to find the gaps and differences between the two. This will open hermeneutic spaces to translate the tradition into useful principles and vocabularies of comtemporary architecture.
After the Korean war, two major attempts were made to reconstruct Gwanghwamun Gate as an important part of Korea’s lost cultural heritage. In December 2006, the Korean government replaced the concrete gate with a wooden one, yet traces of the attempts made in the 1960s to transform Gwanghwamun Gate and the main road remain to this day. At the time, the Third Republic of Korea, sought to legitimize itself in the name of modernity, and went on to modernize the architecture and urban landscape of Seoul. The location and design selected for the rebuilt Gwanghwamun illustrated the symbolic relationship between historic heritage and urban development. The reconstruction of the gate began as part of the Third Republic’s project to restore the Central Administration Building and culminated in the transformation of the main road in front of the gate. By reconstructing the traditional gate using concrete, the military government intended to convey the message that we could inherit our proud tradition using modern materials, and that we should actively adopt the new technologies of the modern era. This study begins with the premise that the Gwanghwamun reconstruction project of 1968 represents the application of new technological thinking to Korea’s architectural style, and has two objectives. The first is to summarize the reconstruction process and method using the records and drawings from the 1968 project, which was then under the leadership of architect Kang Bong-jin. The second is to analyze the characteristics of the architectural style and structure of the reconstructed Gwanghwamun so as to reinterpret the relationship between Korean tradition and modern technology.
As Sri Lanka Stupa had been affected by Indian stupa directly, understanding Sri Lanka Stupa is important to know about the flow of Buddhist Art History, which is showing the variation of Initial Buddhist stupa. Due to invasions and disasters, all Sri Lanka’s Stupa collapsed and became random mound. After restoration works, Stupa shape changed dramatically from the Initial shape to Existing shape. Since it is hard to find out how Initial stupas were like, Sanchi Stupa needed to be an example for the comparative study as an Initial shape.
Sri Lanka Stupa have Square foundation and 3 Basal rings that are supporting the Main Dome. Entrances are on all 4 sides, Railing and Torana(gate) has never found in Sri Lanka stupa. Sri Lanka stupa has been classified with the shape of Dome into 6~8 types according to 『Vijayanta Potha』, the Ancient Buddhist Description, and described by several researchers confusingly. With the inconvenience of using unfamiliar words and irrational gap between the Initial Sri Lanka stupa and Existing Sri Lanka stupa, proposing new classification of Sri Lanka Stupa is necessary. Existing Sri Lanka Stupa can be classified into 4 types : which is ➀Bell type, ➁Pot type, ➂Mound type, ➃Bubble type. This suggestion is for further studies to use Easier and shorter words to describe the types and make it reasonable to use, since the current classification includes 3 stupa types even there is no case for any of them. Restrict Stupa Classifications within existing Sri Lanka Stupa is needed because the current classification had been continued for hundreds of years without any adjustments. Bell type is mainly located in Anuradhapura. Pot type and Mound type is only found in limited area, and Bubble type is located in most area of Sri Lanka.
With regard to Gung-jung Yeon-hyang(宮中宴享; court banquet), the frequency of banquets that were held at one time beginning Mu-ja J in-jak(戊子進爵; a royal banquet held in 1828) in 1828 (the 28th year of King Sunjo (純祖)'s reign). In proportion to this frequency, there was an increase in the need and importance of Suk-seol-so(熟設所; a kitchen built in temporarily house for court banquet) and Jung-bae-seol-cheong(中排設廳; a temporary place to put offerings) as a space to assist court banquets. Although Suk-seol-so was a temporary but large-scale facility, it was frequently used for long periods. This facility was flexibly established using the variability of Dong-gung(東宮; Palace for Crown Prince) and enhanced the efficiency of censorship and security in conjunction with palace gates and Suk-wi-cheo(宿衛處; guard station, guard room). In addition, it was reused according to the period when the nation and royal family gave finances or banquets. Jung-bae-seol-cheong was established in the place connected to the central space of court banquets and worked as buffer space to resolve the tension on the day of the event. The location where Jung-bae-seol-cheong was established enabled us to confirm the applicability of Bok-do(複道; corridor) connected to Chimjeon(寢殿; royal residence) when holding court banquets. In short, Suk-seol-so and Jung-bae-seol-cheong were auxiliary spaces, but were considered importantly in the palace operation when holding court banquets.
Deoksugung Palace Art Museum was built in 1938 as the first professional art museum in Korea. In 2015, National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage published a book on architectural drawings of this building. This book, called Architectural Drawings of the Deoksugung Palace Art Museum, consists of 646 sheets, 23 types of documents, as well as other historical letters. This paper focuses on the analysis of the characteristics of classicism in Architectural Drawings. It shows that every dimensions of drawings were controled by 3 partition composition through the analysis of architectural plan drawings, elevation drawings and even section drawings. Thus, Classicism for the museum is not about classical elements but the principle of composition of each elements for the construction. This paper further argues that Deoksugung Palace Art Museum exemplifies beautiful Classicism architecture which follows the principle of classical architectural composition.