T D S R V O L. I I I N O. 1 9 9 1 6 5-7 6 CONTINUITY AND CONSISTENCY OF THE TRADITIONAL COURTYARD HOUSE PLAN IN MODERN I{OREAN DWELLINGS s A N G H A E L E E The courtyard plan provdes the bass for a tradtonal house type that s deeply assocated wth the Korean way of lfe. The frst part of ths paper dscusses concepts and characterstcs ntrnsc to tradtonal Korean house plans and ntroduces varous examples of courtyard house layouts. Thereafter, t selects several examples of modern Korean dwellngs and compares them from the pont of vew of plan and layout. The nvestgaton dscovers that the dea of the courtyard s stll relevant to modern Korean dwellngs. Transformed and/or retaned, the courtyard dea stll provdes one of the prototypes of the modern Korean dwellng. The varous forms t has taken serve to promote the contnuty and consstency of tradtonal Korean archtecture. They also lend credence to arguments that archtectural tradton nvolves more than style and technology. TRADITIONAL KOREAN HOUSES ARE MOSTLY OF THE COURTYARD type. The courtyard house tradtonally provded for many needs of the Korean people, be they functonal, practcal, spatal, vsual, clmatc, socal and/or cultural Ths made the courtyard house a tradtonal Korean type. SANG HAE LEE s an Assocate Professor of Archtecture at Sung Kyun Kwan Unversty, Seoul, Korea. The am of ths paper s to nvestgate modern Korean dwellngs to answer a number of questons. Are the roles once played by the tradtonal courtyard stll relevant? Does the pattern of the courtyard stll persst despte socal changes and new ways of lvng' If socal and formal concepts behnd the courtyard house have changed, what new forms and concepts have taken ther place? Fnally, f these concepts have not changed, what aspects of the tradtonal courtyard house have been retaned?
66 T D S R 3.1 In attemptng to answer these questons, the paper nvestgates four types of modern Korean dwellng: "ready-bult" houses for sale by prvate house bulders, apartments n multunt buldngs constructed by developers, "desgned" houses by archtects fo r ndvdual clents, and "publc" housng bult by publc housng authortes. TRADITIONAL HOUSE TYPES IN KOREA Hstorcally, one of the endurng patterns n the Korean house was the courtyard plan. It resulted from centures of tral and expermentaton and normally conssted of a courtyard or group of courtyards around whch rooms and other spaces were grouped to make the dwellng complex. Such a house became deeply assocated wth the Korean way of lfe. Such a courtyard model provded varous optons for lateral expanson (FIG. I). A smple house was normally an "opencourtyard" dwellng, whereas a nobleman's manson often conssted of several courtyards whose functons vared accordng to ther locaton wthn the complex.' FIG. I. (TOP) Aeral vew of courtyard houses wth thatched rooft common n the central regons of Korean pennsula untl the I96os. Source: Hwang, Huen-man, The Ch'oga, Straw-Roofed Korean Cottages (Seoul: Youl Hwa Dang Pub., I99I), p.208. FIG. 2. (ABOVE) Vew of an upper-class courtyard seen.from the maru wooden floo r. FIG. 3. (BELOW) Sketch of a humble cottage of three kans wth a wooden verandah n.front of the rooms. The fre hole wth the cookng stove are shown to the rght, and the chmney s shown n.front of the verandah. Each buldng around the courtyard tradtonally conssted of compartments of rooms that rook ther character from one of two major floor types, ondo! and maru. The ondo! floor was fnshed wth thck yellowsh ol paper and was usually found n closed rooms used for sleepng. Ondo! floors were heated by flues that ran beneath them ftom a fre hole n the cookng stove to an exteror chmney vent. The maru floor, on the other hand, was of wood and was normally used n the man hall. One sde of the maru room was usually open ro the outsde, wth no walls between ts roof-support pllars (FIG. 2). The maru floor also often extended n front of the ondo! room ro form a verandah (FIG. 3). In the tradtonal Korean house, compartments of rooms - both ondo! and maru - were measured usng the trad tonal kan. Kan was a term used to count the number of spaces between columns, and so provded the bass for a knd of mod ular system. The kan was not a fxed unt of length, bur vared accordng to the actual dstance between a buldng's columns - usually between sx and nne feet. Kan also referred ro the number of spaces or rooms n a buldng that were enclosed n at least two drectons. One such "square" kan was usually equal to between 36 and 8I square feet. Followng the modular system, the constructon of a house normally. conssted of an ongong process of addng kan or rooms. A buldng of smple structure was usually only two or three kans, whle a large buldng could be more than ten
L E E : M O D E R N K 0 R E A N O W E L L I N G S 67 QJ L' rqrlq] [J:IJ I II (A) SINGLE-LINE ARRANGEMENT 0J3J 1 0 4 4 J\ I 1'\ 3 P 7 J\J\ LJ\.J L /"1 l -p:: (8) DOUBLE-LINE ARRANGEMENT (C) TWO-FOLD ARRANGEMENT (0) L-SHAPE ARRANGEMENT kans n sze. Thus, a dwellng for an upper-class famly that conssted of several buldngs could be as large as 99 kans, whle the humblest dwellng was usually only two or three kans. Tradtonal Korean houses were characterzed by one of four plan types, accordng to the method of kan arrangement and accompanyng structural organzaton.' The frst was the ordnary "sngle-lne" arrangement of rooms under a sngle rdge beam (FIG. 4Al. Ths type was usually nhabted by peasants or servants or was used for storage snce ts ndoor spaces were somewhat lmted. The second type was the "double-lne" arrangement under one rdge beam (FIG. 4B). A combnaton of sngle-lne and double-lne structures, or a house of sngle-lne structure enlarged to the back and ftont, consttuted the thrd type, the "two-fold" arrangement (FIG. 4C). The last type was "L-shaped," or a varant of an L-shape, and was more common n the central regons of the Korean pennsula (FIG. 40).3 These four types of room arrangement made possble varous patterns for the layout of the entre dwellng (FIG. 5). A dwellng usually conssted of a buldng, or buldngs, wth surroundng walls that created one or more courtyard enclosures (FIG. 6). q1 I \ \,,_1 'f' FIG. + Typcal examples of four types of room arrangements (I. ktchen, 2. man room, 3. man hall, 4. bedroom, 5 storage, 6. stable, 7. courtyard). (A) Sngle-lne arrangement; (B) Double-lne arrangement; (C) Twofold arrangement; (0) I-shape arrangement and varants. FIG. 5. (BELOW) Examples of layouts of courtyards and surroundng buldng(s}. Dotted lnes ndcate courtyard space. I I I I I,-'1-, I 1 '...,,; QJ}J
68 T D S R 3.' FIG. 6. (LEFT) General vew of the layout of buldngs n a rural area. Source: Hwang, Huenman, The Ch'oga, Straw-Roofed Korean COttages (Seoul: Youl Hwa Dang Pub., I99I), p.ii. FIG. 7. (RIGHT) An example ofa courtyard beng used for a threshng ground. Ths method of harvest s not practced today. FIG. 8. (BOTTOM RIGHT) General vew of courtyard houses wth gray roof tles n an urban fobrc. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRADITIONAL COURTYARD HOUSE PLAN Many scholars n Korea have ponted out that the courtyard pattern was generated as an approprate soluton to functonal, practcal, clmatc, socal and cultural needs of the Korean people 4 For example, the courtyard could serve as a threshng ground durng harvest season, a meetng place for ceremonal occasons, an outdoor restng place durng warm weather, or a playground for chldren (FIG. 7). In general, the courtyard served as an extenson of the nteror dwellng space, there beng no clear-cut dvson between the nteror and exteror of the house. Lvng wthn such a house dd not mean resdng only wthn a sheltered enclosure; the outdoor space was also used as lvng space accordng ro a complex pattern of resdence. Smply put, the courtyard was a room wthout a roof, a doman set asde for the ganful actvty of the entre household that was well adapted to complcated envronmental, practcal, and soco-cultural stuatons.s Archtecturally, the courtyard functoned as the man route from the publc doman to the nsde of the dwellng. Access from outsde the house to any room wthn t was only possble by enterng the man gate of the house and passng through the courtyard. But the courtyard also connected all ndoor and outdoor spaces wthn the house, and almost all rooms and spaces n the house orented ther openngs toward t. In ths way the courtyard helped elmnate the need for corrdors or an entrance porch or hall In urban stuatons the courtyard also served to shelter the house from the street by reducng nose and mantanng prvacy. As a buffer between street and house, t was an mportant facltator of the development of a compact urban fabrc (FIG. 8). It also afforded the urban dwellng good access to sunshne and ventlaton, even wthn relatvely narrow stes (FIG. 9).
L E E : M O D E R N K O R E A N D W E L L I N G S 69 Clmatcally, most courtyards acted as effcent mcro-clmate controllers. Snce habtable rooms looked nward wth a defensve, ntroverted posture, nhabtants were protected from both hot and cold weather. Cool breezes blowng nto the courtyard n the summer were especally apprecated. And f a regon was too cold durng the wnter, or f the range of daly temperature changes was too great, the courtyard could be totally surrounded by nteror dwellng space. Such a house pattern was shown n FIG. 4D. But the courtyard acted as more than just a clmate-control devce; t was also a doman for socal nteracton. Confucansm pervaded all aspects of domestc lfe n Korea, ncludng the arrangement of dwellng space.6 Respondng to Confucan ethcs, the nner-most part of a house was set asde for women, whle the outer part was reserved for the male householder. Addtonally, accordng to sumptuary customs, the sze and number of buldngs n a dwellng complex was determned by the socal status and wealth of the householder (FIG. 10). All aspects of the dwellng - buldngs, courtyards and walls - served to r,enforce the Confucan socal order. For example, wthn the overall organzaton of famly apartments n a large dwellng, courtyards could be located n three functonally separate areas: that for women and chldren n the nner-most part of the house, that for the male householder n front, and that for servants near the entry gate. Thus, the pattern of courtyard layout was crucal to determnng the dentty of the house. In a sense, the dsposton of the courtyard(s) allowed a drect correspondence between the physcal arrangement of the lvng space and ts socal and practcal uses. Snce the courtyard was defned by the structures and spaces that surrounded t, t was forced to medate dverse sets of aesthetc and spatal relatonshps. The experence of the house was often domnated by the spatal and aesthetc nature of ts courtyard(s). The wrapped spatal nterval - experenced ether by passage from the man gate to nteror courtyard(s) or by vews from an adjacent ndoor or outdoor space - s a dstnctve characterstc of Korean archtecture. The effects created often nvolved layerng open-courtyards, brngng dstant vews of nature nto the house doman. In a sense, the courtyard was a spatal symbol for the ntroverson that formed a part of a larger tradton of Korean socety. MODERN KOREAN DWELLINGS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE COURTYARD PLAN II FIG. 9. Examples of a tradtonal area of urban fobrc n Seoul wth basc house plans (I. entrance gate, 2. man room, 3. ktchen, 4. bedroom, 5. man hall, 6. storage, 7- courtyard, 9. tolet. (A) Urban fobrc; (B) House plam. Source: Kahoedong Hanok chosa bogoseo (Report of Kahoedong Area Feld Survey), Muae + OB Semnar Study Report I, I986. Thus far general features of the courtyard layout of tradtonal Korean dwellngs have been dscussed n a broad context. The paper now turns to an nvestgaton of several types of modern
70 TO S R 3.1 Korean dwellngs n lght of the questons summarzed at the outset. Four types of dwellngs are examned: "ready-bult" houses by prvate bulders, apartment houses by developers, "desgned" houses by archtects fo r ndvdual clents, and "publc" houses by publc housng authortes. The majorty of contemporary houses n Korea today are bult by prvate house bulders. Such "ready-bult" houses reflect the values and tastes of ordnary people about lvng space and house form. Snce such houses are bult for a market, they are condtoned by the demands of that market - that s, by aspects of both a modern urban lfe-style and tradtonal ways of lvng. FIG. 10. (TOP) An example of an upper-class house (Io entrance gate, 2. man room, 3. ktchen, 4. bedroom, 5. man hall, 6. storage, 7a. courtyard for women, 7b. courtyard for male householder, 7C. courtyard for servants, 8. stable, 9. study). FIG. II. (MIDDLE) A typcal example of a ready-bult house by a prvate bulder (Io entrance hall, 2. man hall or lvng room, 3. ktchen, 4. man room, 5. bedroom, 6. bathroom). FIG. 12. (BELOW) An example of an apartment unt plan by a prvate developer (Io entrance hall, 2. man hall or lvng room, 3. ktchen, 4. man room, 5. bedroom, 6. bathroom, 7. dnng room, II. terrace). On the surface, the man features and layout of ready-bult houses reflect stylstc nfluence from the West. Ths may result from a desre by modern-day Koreans for houses that symbolze a modern style. In partcular, the form and use of materals n ready-bult houses resemble smlar qualtes n modern Western houses, even though the mtaton s superfcal and the bulders are not well versed n desgn control In terms of plan, the ready-bult house shows notable dvergences from the tradtonal courtyard pattern. For example, most house plans are nearly rectangular n shape, and most houses are stuated ro one sde of ther buldng lot wth a garden, not a courtyard, n front. One can assume the courtyard has been elmnated so that the house can more closely mtate modern Western models. Despte such exteror alteratons, however, the arrangement of ndoor space n ready-bult houses s not much changed from the tradtonal layout. On the contrary, t seems that the arrangement of ndoor space actually reflects the nherted cultural context farly closely. A typcal ready-bult house plan from an urban area of Korea shows how all rooms n the "modern" house are arranged around a man hall, a knd of Korean lvng room whch acts n a remarkably smlar fashon to the courtyard of a tradtonal house (FIG. II). Lke the courtyard, the man hall serves as a transtonal space through whch all other spaces n the house are reached. One mght say the courtyard concept has been nternalzed. As socety has changed, the exteror mage of the tradtonal house has changed to reflect lfe n a modern envronment, but the nhabtants nonetheless clng to nherted dwellng patterns on the nsde. Prvate bulders seem to have understood the needs of Koreans caught between two modes of lvng, and they have responded by nternalzng tradtonal lvng patterns wthn a house that otherwse appears derved from a modern Western model Lke ready-bult houses, apartment houses by developers show a translaton of the tradtonal courtyard dea. There are
L E E : M O D E R N K 0 R E A N D W E L L I N G S 71 FIG. 13. Vew of newly developed apartment houses. numerous types of plans for apartments for mddle-class famles n Korea. Among them, the medum-szed apartment shown here s typcal and popular (FIG. 12). Snce an apartment house s not functonally equvalent to a group of detached sngle-famly houses, apartment layouts reflect the nfluence of modern cubc forms (FIG. 13). Wthn ths new dom developers also seem to have tred to accommodate the popular demand for tradtonal desgn features. As n the ready-bult house, each room of the apartment unt shown n FIG. I2 s accessble only by passng through the man hall, or lvng room. The apartment entrance hall would seem to correspond to the entrance gate of the tradtonal house, and the man room of the apartment s located n ts nner-most zone n a smlar arrangement to the women's quarters n a tradtonal house. Overall, one can say that both the apartment layour and the layour of the tradtonal house are characterzed by rooms that are closed to the outsde and open onto a protected nner space. As n the ready-bult house, one can say that the dea of the courtyard has been nternalzed n the apartment layout. Bur the translaton here has taken place n a much dfferent socal context, and so the example offers further evdence of the contnuty and consstency of the courtyard dea n modern Korean dwellngs.
72 T D S R 3.1 The thrd type of house, the ndvdually desgned house, s hard to reduce to a general system of formal or stylstc classfcatons. Desgns by archtects exhbt numerous concepts and patterns, and archtects' atttudes seem to be domnated by competng ssues such as tradton, modernty, experment and challenge. Some archtects have tested new styles wthout feelng restrcted by any noton of a specfc Korean cultural hertage. Others have delberately tred to ntroduce modern Western styles to Korea. But both these groups seem to lack a deep understandng of the essence of Korean tradton, and they prefer to be nterested n contemporary archtectural expresson. A thrd group of archtects, however, has tred to retan characterstcs of tradtonal Korean houses usng personal modern SECOND FLOOR vocabulares of form transformed from tradton. The plan here shows a house that at frst glance would seem to be a modern house wth a tradtonal courtyard layout (FIG. 14), but f one looks wth full and partcular attenton, one can see how the layout and nternal organzaton dffer totally from tradtonal patterns. Whle the courtyard form remans from the tradtonal house, ts purpose s no longer to regulate the dstrbuton offamly quarters. The courtyard here s employed solely for the purpose of provdng an ntrgung vew nto and out of the varous areas of the house. In one sense ths house does ncorporate tradtonal notons of outdoor space. The orgnal functon of the courtyard has been neglected, and the courtyard has become an empty object that merely allows certan aesthetc effects to be created wthn the 5 (8) c = house. In other words, the house has adopted the symbolc and phenomenal aspects of the courtyard only; the "sense" but not the "substance" of the tradtonal house. GROUND FLOOR FIG. 14. An example of an archtect-desgned house (I. entrance hall, 2. man hall or lvng room, 3. ktchen, 4. man room, 5. bedroom, 6. bathroom, 7- dnng room, 8. fomly room, 9. study, IO. car port, II. terrace, I2. courtyard). 10 By way of contrast, the last dwellng type to be nvestgated, "publc" houses by publc housng authortes, demonstrate a dfferent set of desgn ntentons. In the early stages of publchousng constructon durng the 19605, the desgn of publc dwellngs depended sgnfcantly on the authortes' stated ntenton to "mprove" the lfe-style and lvng envronment of Koreans. The elte archtect/bureaucrats who ran the publc housng agences placed great value on house desgns that emphaszed effcency of space and economy of constructon. Ths necesstated the standardzaton and programatzaton of the dwellng, and t often resulted n the wholesale adopton of Western plans, whch were regarded as mprovements over Korean models. Followng one of the prncpal functonal tenents of Modern Archtecture, for example, sleepng, lvng and utlty zones were often separated n publc housng to ncrease the nde-
L E E : M O D E R N K 0 R E A N O W E L L I N G 5 73 pendence of each zone (FIG. 15). In addton, most mportant rooms were arranged on the southern sde of the buldng to take maxmum advantage of sunlght, a concern whch resulted n the entrance hall beng located ether to the west or the north, an uncommon pattern n trad tonal Korean domestc lfe. In the early stages of publc housng programs, the authortes generally abandoned the form and functon of the courtyard. The atttude they dsplayed lends credence to arguments that publc housng authortes generally neglect local tradtons and prefer the ntroducton of "new" styles. Nonetheless, from late 19705 on, publc housng authortes n Korea began to realze that occupants of ther houses were not satsfed wth the layout of nteror spaces, and they began to change ther desgns to reflect concepts smlar to those evdent n the ready-bult houses of prvate bulders (FIG. 1 6 ). Although the concept of a Western-style lvng room remaned, t came to functon not only as a place fo r socal gatherng but also as the man access and transton space n the dwellng. The courtyard dea also came to be translated wthn the context of publc housng. INTERPRETATION OF THE COURTYARD IDEA IN MODERN KOREAN DWELLINGS The dscussons above have made t apparent that ndvdually desgned houses by archtects and ready-bult houses by prvate bulders dverged sgnfcantly n ther adaptaton of tradtonal courtyard patterns to modern condtons. One can say that the archtects were much more nvolved n nterpretng the form of the courtyard, whle developers and buyers of ready-bult houses and apartments allowed the market to control the way the dwellng evolved. Prvate bulders have generally adapted the dea of the courtyard to the nteror layout of ther houses, whle treatng exteror features - style, structure, and use of materals - n ways superfcally related to modern styles. Archtects, on the other hand, have sezed on the prototypcal character of the courtyard pattern and tred to retan ts geometrcal symbolsm whle alterng ts socal and practcal functon. In between, publc housng authortes at frst tred to abandon the functon and form of the tradtonal courtyard and replace t wth Western models, but then dscovered resdents preferred the pattern of nteror organzaton developed through prvate markets. II FIG. 15. (ABOVE) Examples of publc houses bult durng the early I960s (Io entrance hal!, 2. man hal! or lvng room, 3. ktchen, 4- man room, 5 bedroom, 6. bathroom). (A) Perspectve vew; (B) Pan. FIG. 16. (BELOW) An example of a standard urban house desgned by the Korean Mnstry of Constructon durng the I970S (Io entrance hall, 2. man hall or lvng room, 3. ktchen, 4. dnng room, 5. man room, 6. bedroom, 7. bathroom). From ths nvestgaton, one can see the mportance of the relatonshp between form and layout of the house and assocated cultural atttudes and values. Even though the courtyard dea has come to be reflected n modern Korean houses n a varety of ways through a varety of processes, the dfferent modern manfestatons are lnked ro a collectve tradton. It
.. 74 T D 5 R 3.1 the framework of the tradtonal courtyard dea as follows. Tradtonal House: Entrance Gate - Courtyard - Rooms (Destnaton). Modern House: Entrance Hall- Lvng Room - Rooms (Destnaton). FIG. 17. Possble relatons between courtyard and house lot. (a) Courtyard wthn; (b) House wthn; (c) Courtyard-lke space wthn a house wthn a lot. Wthn ths overall framework, however, one may note dstnct dfferences between the ways prvate bulders and practcng archtects have chosen to recognze the dea. Archtects have employed tradton as an hstorcal reference whch can be nterpreted by means of senstvty to surface qualtes that arouse cultural memory. Bulders have sought to respond to market demand for nteror spaces that provde contextual contnuty between tradtonal socal structures and contemporary ways of lvng. Addtonally, one can note that archtects' perceptons of the tradtonal house are based prncpally on the tradtonal houses of rch and dstngushed can therefore be argued that the courtyard house type stll offers a vtal cultural hertage to modern Korea. These notons can be more easly understood by carefully examnng the spatal domans establshed by the tradtonal courtyard pattern. As prevously dscussed, the courtyard consttuted the outdoor doman of the tradtonal house. However, the boundary between the courtyard doman and the rest of the house was not well defned. Snce some of the support pllars of the house,.e., those to one sde of the maru wooden floor, stood ndependently wth no walls explctly dvdng ndoor from outdoor space, there came to be no clear lmt between ndoor and outdoor lvng. In fact, the functons of ndoor and outdoor spaces were sometmes nterconnected and nterchangeable accordng to crcumstance, clmate, and the desred degree of nterpersonal formalty. Ths s one reason why the courtyard could be ether nternalzed or externalzed n recognton of ts functon and applcaton. The courtyard house dea has dffused remarkably well nto modern Korean dwellngs at a number oflevels. Ths may be because t embodes the very dea of trad ton n the dwellng. In partcular, the contrasts n translaton and nterpretaton of the courtyard nto modern housng contexts can be summarzed as follows. Prvate bulders and developers conceptualzed and nternalzed the functonal aspects of the tradtonal form and desgn. Meanwhle, archtects nterested n the tradton of Korean domestc space perceptualzed and externalzed the tradtonal form. Publc authortes arrved at a poston somewhere n-between. The spatal organzaton of the tradtonal Korean house can be compared to the organzaton of the modern house wthn House n Rural Area House n Mountanous Area House n Urban Fabrc House for Upper Class I d. Buldng Courtyard Gate..... Buldng... (Rooas) u +- Courtyard -+ I I I d. Gate d. Buldng I +- Courtyard -+ I d. "- d. J. Buldng Gate... Buldng Buldng Courtyard (woman) " Courtyard / (man) Buldng Courtyard (servant) I Buldng Gate.. FIG. IS. Conceptual Dagram o/ Tradtonal Courtyard Houses.
L E E : M O D E R N K 0 R E A N D W E L L I N G S 75 famles whch no longer survve. In contrast, the concepton of the courtyard dea created by bulders has been nspred manly by the self-protectve nature of the tradtonal houses of common people. In the modern prototype, the tradtonal "courtyard" has been relocated wthn a dwellng wthn a house lot (FIG. 17). It can be mantaned that ths s the result of an nteracton between dwellng form and the nhabtants' needs, values, and tastes. In other words, as wth other aspects of culture, dwellng form can be understood as beng realzed, or ft, nto a whole (that s, the present reconclaton of tradton and current need) (FIGS. 18,19). CONCLUSION: CONTINUITY AND CONSISTENCY OF THE COURTYARD IDEA In sum, the tradton of the courtyard dea consttutes, ether conscously or unconscously a "constant" n the desgn of Korean dwellngs and serves to promote the contnuty and consstency nherent n tradtonal Korean archtecture. Other contextual elements of tradton,.e. the use of materal, decoraton, detal and so on, are employed as secondary varables. The bult pattern of the courtyard has not become an ossfed remnant of the past, but has been restated by new desgns and means. It can be mantaned that, as artfacts, contemporary Korean dwellngs resonate wth spatal features that lnk modern lfe ether practcally or symbolcally to tradtonal aspects of Korean socety and culture through the ntermedary of the courtyard dea. The courtyard pattern as a cultural hertage has proven strongly resstant to change. It perssts tenacously, ether conceptually or physcally, at all levels of dwellng form. Even though the style and structure of modern Korean dwellngs are radcally dfferent from tradtonal Korean houses and n many ways have come to resemble modern Western houses, ther spatal organzaton has remaned tradtonal ether perceptually or conceptually, externally or nternally. Ths would seem to support the theory that archtectural tradton nvolves more than just the noton of style and technology. The way n whch the courtyard dea has been retaned or dscarded has been shown here to depend on the atttudes of bulders, archtects, housng authortes, and owners-to-be. But the courtyard dea orgnated as a preconcepton of the house as a specfc pattern of space use that could be expressed n a spatal organzaton that could be passed ftom one generaton to the next. Ths phenomenon demonstrates that the dwellng fulflls more than smply the need for shelter. Modern Korean dwellngs, ether desgned by archtects, Ready-bu l t Bouse Apartment Houses Publc House Desgned House Rooms o o +- Man Hall ---. 0 ( Courtyard) " s Entrance Hall A Rooms Entrance Hall 0 " /' 0 L vng Room (Courtyard) 0 "- 1 d. Rooms 0 Lvng Rool... 0 (Courtyard) I Entrance Hall A Buldng / " B r-t> B Courtyard 1 L, d. Gate A FIG. 19. Conceptual Dagram a/contemporary Houses.
76 T D S R 3.1 executed by housng authortes, or bult by bulders, translate and transform ths need nto modern physcal forms by creatng new spatal patterns that have remaned tradtonal, ether conceptually or perceptually. REFERENCE NOTES I. The term "open-courtyard" s used to ndcate a courtyard space wth structures on ether one, two, or three sdes, whch results from the lateral extenson of the fo rm of the buldng. In ths sense t s opposed to an "nternal" courtyard, whch s located completely nsde the house. 2. Most trad tonal Korean houses for the upper class were of wooden post-and-beam constructon wth a gray tle roof. Lower class houses used sun-dred mud-brck walls that supported a thatched roof. 3. For a more detaled dscusson of the evoluron of the four types of tradtonal houses n Korea, see Chu, Nam-ch'ul, Han'guk Chut'aek Konch 'uk (The Korean Resdental Archtecture) (Seoul: Jljsa, 1985). 4. For a more detaled dscusson of the varous functons and purposes of the courtyatd n Korean tradtonal archtecture, see Shn, Yung-hoon, Han'guk u Salmjp (The Tradtonal House n Korea) (Seoul: Yulhwadang, 1986). 5. For a more detaled dscusson of the complcated envronmental, practcal, and sococultural s ruatons related to the use of the courryard and ts relaton to arch tectural space organzaton, see Km, Kwang-on, Han'guk u Chugo Mnsokj (Tradtonal House Styles n Korea) (Seoul: Mnumsa, 1988). 6. For a dscusson of the dwellng space arrangement as t relates to Confucan ethcs, see Sang Hae Lee, "Stng and General Organzaton of Tradtonal Korean Settlements," n Dwellngs, Settlements, and Tradton: Cross-Cultural Perspectves, J.-P. Bourder and N. AISayyad, eds. (Lanham: Unversty Press of Amerca, 1989), PP.295-316.