South Korea's Architectural Renaissance: Tradition Meets Modernity

South Korean architecture masterfully blends tradition with modernity, reflecting a vibrant cultural renaissance and shaping a unique identity.

### The Architectural Renaissance of South Korea: Merging Tradition with Modernity
* 🏙 South Korean pop culture, known as Hallyu, has captivated **over 200 million fans globally**, with spending on cultural products projected to reach **$143 billion by 2030**.
* 🏆 Seoul was recognized as the **Best City of 2024**, reflecting the global interest in its **culture and architectural innovations**.
* 🏗 The city is undergoing a renaissance that merges **traditional design with contemporary trends**, showcasing the **rich narrative behind each building**.
* 🌱 Architects like Teo Yang emphasize the importance of **site memory**, using local materials to create spaces that resonate with both **history and modernity**.
* 💡 Teo Yang's approach highlights the philosophy of **simplicity in design**, drawing inspiration from traditional hanoks and focusing on **natural materials and harmony with nature**.
* 🌍 The global spotlight on Korean architecture is growing, with architects like Minsuk Cho **redefining what it means to be Korean** in a rapidly changing world.
* 🎉 Korean architecture embodies a tactile experience, integrating cultural traditions like **ondol heating** and communal spaces such as **madang**, which foster **social interaction**.
* 🚀 As South Korea's architectural identity gains international recognition, it stands poised to become a **significant cultural export**, further enhancing the nation's **global influence**.

From K-pop acts blazing a trail into the hearts and charts of the Western world to history-making wins on the international stage. The global phenomenon that is South Korean pop culture, or Hallyu, shows no signs of letting up. In just 25 years, Hallyu has drawn over 200 million pop culture fans, and global spending on Korean cultural products is set to nearly double to $143 billion by 2030. To top it off, Seoul was recently crowned Best City of 2024 by designers and creatives around the globe. This worldwide interest in South Korean culture has expanded to include its buildings and cityscapes, and the architects behind them. The South Korean capital is in the midst of a renaissance embracing architecture, showcasing the nation’s skill in merging tradition with innovation. It’s a powerful reminder that in Korea, every building tells a story — one of cultural pride and vibrant creativity. I’m Haslinda Amin. And this is Momentum.

The story of South Korea’s architectural renaissance is written in the streets of Seoul. Just as the Korean cultural wave taps diverse elements to forge a modern Korean identity, its contemporary architecture is constantly evolving, blending tradition with today’s global trends to transform the country’s built environment. In the past, South Korea’s architectural identity was heavily influenced by Confucian values and the oppressive legacy of Japanese colonial rule. Post-liberation and post-Korean War in the 1950s, South Korea’s economy boomed. As South Korea emerged from its position as one of the poorest countries in the world and personal wealth began to flourish, the nation embarked on a journey to redefine what it truly means to be Korean. If the beating heart of Koreanness is housed in its people and their arts, then the depths of its soul reside in its architecture. Architects in Seoul are reshaping Korea’s urban landscape, fueled by the progressive tastes of the nation’s youth, the global ascent of the Korean cultural wave.

and renewed appreciation for the country’s rich heritage. I’m here with Teo Yang, founder of Teo Yang Studio, a design studio that embraces traditional and contemporary elements. Teo, talk to us about how you translate tradition into the present. It starts with finding a narrative for the space. What is the memory of the site, and how can we add value to our projects? For instance, this space for Blue Bottle Coffee — we really wanted to do research on the early 1900s traditional housing. What were they like when electricity was introduced? When water plumbing was introduced and glass was introduced. So those were the factors that we wanted to highlight and also create a sense of home, where you would find a beautiful courtyard at the end of the alleyway. Teo, how can design, how can architecture signal Koreanness? There is a term called the memory of the site. Especially when you’re creating space or architecture, you really need to understand the history

that is being kept within the site. Tradition is not just a thing of the past, but a concept of a resource, something that you can really utilize. Something that could speak to us in a very valuable way and teach us a lesson. It’s been a long question from the past — who we are, how do we want to live, and how do we want to die? To Teo, contemporary Korean architecture is building on the past in a mindful way to shape the future we inhabit. Just like the hanoks, which are traditional Korean houses, and how they seamlessly integrate the environmental influences into their design. When you see Korean traditional housings, you see how we live with nature and how we find wisdom within that. So we have a courtyard, and we use certain materials such as stone, wood, and sand. And I think everything just resonates with, “How do we want to live?” There is an old saying in Korea that says, geom-ibullu hwaibulchi.”

It means simple but not humble, and beautiful but not extravagant. It’s really about finding balance in things. And this old saying was actually the guideline for building royal palaces. So it has a tremendous impact on Korean architecture. To find that fine line of finding where you live and coexist with others and with nature. This design philosophy reveals why Korean architecture often embodies simplicity and fluid streamlined forms. But how does that translate in real life, in architecture? When you take a look at some of the Korean buildings, it’s glossy. Sleek on the outside. And if you look closer, you see hanok principles. What does that actually mean? Being simple means erasing the decorativeness and looking at the essence and the pure things in life. That’s why we use very natural based materials and come up with very simple gestures of architectural languages. A sense of history and the principles of naturalism pervades even the materials Teo Yang chooses. I think even just a simple wood has so much narrative to share.

For instance, a persimmon tree. It was sort of like a symbol of a beautiful Korean scenery. And a lot of people actually used persimmon to sweeten their food. And they would cut the tree, and they would create beautiful furniture with beautiful patterns in it. So just one material can tell so much of a story. I think it lives within our DNA. How we utilize lighting, of bouncing the natural light into our spaces. How do we utilize and how do we change the concept of the middle courtyard into a building? What makes contemporary Korean architecture truly exciting is its return to basics, but with a modern twist. I think we’re really trying to discover what new luxury is. We’ve been exposed to technology sometimes too much in our days, with cell phones and everything. So nowadays, Korean people are more looking back in a different way, such as how can we go slower? Korean architects like Teo Yang are redefining what modern architecture is by embracing a multidisciplinary approach.

Teo, you’ve gone beyond designing spaces. You’re into medicine, cosmetics, even perfumes. Why is that? The mission of exploring Korean tradition and local value hasn’t changed, but I needed more different subjects that I could explore. For instance, furniture. I could explore more on materials and crafts and techniques. And with cosmetics, I could talk about Korean traditional medicine. And what are the herbs that were grown in the past days. For Teo Yang, using 21st-century technology like ChatGPT and 3D printing is a way to breathe new life into design traditions. Powerful! Also, I have been collecting earthenwares that date back to three to five centuries, and I have 3D scanned most of them and 3D printed them and am using them as diffusers, mirrors, and vases, and then really giving them new life. And I think that’s so much fun and really makes me think that I’m not just putting them in a glass box,

but really making sure that these old objects and old aesthetics could still inspire us and still talk with us in the 21st century. From large-scale public projects to ambitious commercial and retail spaces, Korean architects are renegotiating what it means to be Korean. These important conversations about Korean identity also extend to the design of everyday living spaces and how people experience their homes. One of the drivers for this conversation is Studio Gaon, which was voted the best architecture studio in Korea by Architizer for the last two years. You say architecture is a story of people’s lives, a dream of the land. What do you mean by that? Land is not just a place, but it’s a kind of a flow, a flow that is generally called nature. There are mountains and rivers. I think of it as a kind of universe that encompasses all of that. What’s important in Korean architecture is harmony, achieving balance. So, the land and people being in harmony. And nature and people being in harmony.

families being in harmony, and all beings existing in harmony are the most important value in Korean architecture. That remains in Korean architecture nowadays, and we’re trying to keep that momentum going. For Studio Gaon, architecture is a careful art of balancing the history of the land and the needs of modern living. In architecture, when looking at spaces, for example, we don’t just say this is a living room and this is a kitchen and only use them for that purpose. They’re sometimes combined or their purpose changes and are used freely however people want to use them for. That kind of freedom and flexibility in relationships are characteristics of Korean architecture. I think they are the elements that can be modernized and globalized. From the 14th century, when hanoks were first constructed, to 2024, themes of harmony and sustainability remain central to the philosophy of Korean architects like those of Studio Gaon. Korean architecture is in motion, so it feels like a video.

I think you can feel more beauty when you have more flow and time involved. That’s what’s distinct about it. So rather than imitating a certain morphology, we look at various structures of space and attitude towards the land. Even if it is the same nature, we all see it differently. For example, when we think of the land, it is not just a place. The eyes, nose, and mouth are elements that make up the body. Even when viewed separately, we think of them as parts that make up the whole body. So the same goes for the land. Rather than looking at a specific land as a piece, we see it as a part of the larger nature of Korea, and we think about it more deeply and try to respect it. With Korea’s creative sectors generating $12.4 billion in export revenue in 2021, it’s no surprise that the global spotlight is now shining on the other aspects of Hallyu.

like Korean architecture. In the past, the world was disconnected in their respective domains. So, the awareness or understanding of Korea was not that high. But now, everything is connected through networks, the internet, and various smart facilities. It’s like there was a good book on the shelf that you weren’t aware of, but you opened it, read it, and came to like it. In a similar way, that’s how Korean culture is being discovered. It seems that a point of connection has emerged where the modern spirit aligns with the original spirit of Korea, and that’s how this began. In creating spaces that align with a modern Korean lifestyle, the architects emphasized the need to adapt rather than adopt traditions. What we want to do is build homes for this era, not traditional Korean homes from the past. I want to create a home that reflects the current Korean lifestyle. If we were to build an old-style house, we would need to use traditional materials.

but many of those materials are no longer available today. So the challenge is how do we preserve the essence of our traditional homes using the materials we can actually obtain today like timber and bricks. I believe that one of the most important missions of architects is to enable ordinary people to build their homes in a way that is accessible and comfortable for them. Korean architects are making their mark beyond Seoul. Among them, Minsuk Cho, who was commissioned to design Serpentine Pavilion 2024. The Serpentine Pavilion is an annual attraction in London which showcases international architects who push the boundaries of contemporary architecture. Minsuk, give us a sense of how you translate Korean architecture for the rest of the world. Haslinda, that’s a big question. Maybe because we are next to it. You are looking at one example here. We call this madang. In fact, Serpentine Pavilion also has a central open space called madang. It kind of reflects light back, and actually, we kept it almost empty

so that so many different things can happen. Weddings or birthday parties, but also madang, in general terms, is where we can be ourselves, where we belong. It’s quite challenging when you say “What is Koreanness?” Because it’s hard to sort of pinpoint and give you a, let’s say, grand narrative. A lot of it is coming from what came with it before, which is a natural condition, topographies and complexities and also how to create the dialogue with nature or other manmade structures and so on. How is your architecture, how is your design Korean? When I look at this space, you know, it looks Korean to me. It looks like a hanok. We have a compound right here. Amazing, you got it right in a way. You can say it is a vertical translation of a Korean hanok. This is a madang, yes. Because this is where the collective things happen. And, often we use it as a lecture hall,

We do our project meetings, and actually, we invite people here. Also, every year, it turns into a discotheque, almost. We live like a monk for the whole year. Except one day, we turn into this gloriously drunken, delirious, free-for-all, everything. But why is it important for you to have this kind of space? A Korean space, as part of your practice. I think it just comes out of architecture being a reflection of, as I said, a culture. And, I mean, that’s how we want to use and occupy. And I guess you could call it a social practice. If architecture is a reflection of the society it comes from, I wondered what aspects of Korean history have had an impact on Minsuk Cho, who was born and raised in Seoul but began his architectural career overseas. Minsuk, we’re talking about Korean architecture. What is Koreanness? That’s a very important and very difficult question.

because there’s so much complexity that comes with, that was charged with the recent history. I think it’s really hard to pinpoint one thing. If you can’t pinpoint one thing, what characteristics are there? This is the question that I’m asked the most, but is always impossible to... because it could be a bit dangerous to be a bit reductive. What comes out is so diverse. I think it is really the reflection of a long history, that common history and also how we went through tremendous social change, political change, and also economic change. Of course, the whole thing. Indeed, Korea’s economic miracle and the accompanying social upheaval may have been the catalyst for Korean architects to develop a new language that revives traditions within a fresh landscape. Architecture comes from material culture, which has to do with the natural ecology and all sorts of other material and so on. And then there’s also social condition that we have to address, which has to do with the history.

But then there are new influences coming. So it's always evolving in a way. So tradition, the Koreanness, is not something that is fixed. I'll often quote Álvaro Siza, a great master's quotation. He said something like, Tradition is only useful when it has an element of change. I think that's how human culture, cultural civilization has evolved in a way. Look at the Olympics. They built so many great buildings throughout history. And now they're repurposing them into a fencing field. That is so beautiful. Korea's natural landscape has also significantly influenced how architects create cutting-edge designs that harmonize with their environment. What will be the exciting thing that we can offer? I think Seoul is one of the very rare metropolises that started from very mountainous terrain. I think a lot of this European idea about the city was flat ground, and then somehow you are the God and you create these geometric patterns,

Whether it’s grid or radial patterns, it’s almost humans playing God in a way. But then, Seoul, when it started with this last kingdom, which was Joseon dynasty 630 years ago, it was actually very much about feng shui, pung-su, we call it. So it’s really about harmonious coexistence with nature in a way. You were chosen to design the Serpentine Pavilion 2024. What did that mean to you? It was a means to bring togetherness. It’s small and intimate enough to bring people together, almost like a magnet. Because you have birthday parties or weddings and there’s a sort of collective festive moment. Yet also, when nothing happens, it’s big enough to have people do their own things, you know, in different rooms. So I think that’s a very good model for the society. If our profession is about, sort of problem-solving, architecture is about understanding people. How we got here, what to do with it, who are these people?

What do they need, and how can we improve it? In a globalized world, staying true to your roots speaks volumes. The rich cultural traditions that inspire modern Korean architecture have helped Korean architects gain global attention and accolades. Korean architecture is very much a tactile experience with buildings. We have this thing called ondol, right? Heated floor. So when we sleep, we literally hug the floor. I’m bringing Korean references and now, you know madang, and all that. But it’s a very common thing, and I think it’s quite universal. So I mean, I see one of my contractors who said, “Oh, this space...” What we call the auditorium, he said, “It looks like a medieval banquet in the UK.” I was like, I have no idea, but I’m in.” You know? The unique thing about Seoul is that if you’re a foreigner, you come to Seoul, you have no idea what to expect. Did you have any expectations of what to see, your bucket list?

What is the Empire State Building of Seoul? I think that’s one of the strengths that we have. It’s almost like a Korean meal, bapsang. There’s not like a strong grand narrative of some fine dining course that you have. It’s the city, and you can pick and choose. What makes contemporary Korean architecture so revolutionary and exciting? The answer lies in the country’s confidence in its cultural identity, and the bold reinterpretation of its traditions and urban heritage by visionary architects. South Korea was ranked the world’s sixth most culturally influential nation according to the 2021 Good Country Index. Whether you’re in Asia or America, chances are you would know BTS or Blackpink. And Korean architecture is about to be the next big export. It’s all part of a growing renaissance that will propel the country into a global cultural powerhouse and boost its economy. In South Korea, whoever re-imagines wins. Check out our next Momentum episode.

Why Korea's Architecture May Be Its Next Big Thing | Momentum

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Bloomberg Originals

South Korea's pop culture phenomenon, Hallyu, has drawn over 200 million fans in 25 years, with global spending on Korean cultural products set to reach $143 billion by 2030.

Seoul's architecture is undergoing a renaissance, blending tradition with innovation and reshaping the city's urban landscape.

Architects like Teo Yang are using the site's history and traditional elements to create contemporary spaces, aiming to build a mindful future that resonates with the Korean way of living.

Korean architecture embodies a design philosophy that values simplicity, balance, and natural materials.

The sleek and glossy exteriors of modern buildings often reflect traditional hanok principles, while the use of storytelling materials, like persimmon wood, adds depth to the design.

Architects like Teo Yang are redefining modern architecture by embracing a multidisciplinary approach and using 21st-century technology to breathe new life into traditional design elements.

The Impact of Korean Architecture on Identity and Harmony

Korean architects are redefining national identity through public projects and living spaces, with Studio Gaon leading the conversation.

The philosophy of Korean architecture emphasizes harmony between land, nature, and people, aiming for a balance that remains relevant today.

The flexible use of spaces and a deep respect for the land's larger nature are key elements in modernizing and globalizing Korean architecture.

The Modern Interpretation of Korean Architecture

Korean architecture is evolving to reflect the modern lifestyle, with a focus on adaptation rather than adoption of traditional practices.

Architects are using available materials like timber and bricks to preserve the essence of traditional homes.

Minsuk Cho, a prominent Korean architect, is making a global impact by designing spaces that embody the concept of "madang," a central open space that fosters community and connection.

The Importance of Korean Space in Architecture

The project meetings often transform into a lively celebration, reflecting the social practice of architecture.

Minsuk Cho discusses the complexity of Koreanness and its diverse characteristics, influenced by the country's tumultuous history and social changes.

Korea's unique natural landscape and urban terrain have played a significant role in shaping cutting-edge architectural designs that harmonize with the environment.

The Impact of Korean Architecture and Culture

Korean architecture is deeply rooted in cultural traditions and feng shui, promoting harmonious coexistence with nature.

The Serpentine Pavilion 2024 design aims to create togetherness and offer a flexible space for people to connect and engage.

South Korea's confident cultural identity and bold reinterpretation of traditions are driving its architectural renaissance, positioning the country as a global cultural powerhouse.