Switzerland v. Gyonam-dong Alps

Nevermind that dull tower rising over Pyeong-dong, down the hill; the new Swiss Embassy truly was the last missing piece in Gyonam-dong's jigsaw puzzle. How does it fit? Can it add some soul to a lobotomized neighborhood? First impressions after a visit organized on May 15, just days before its inauguration.

***

In 1974, to build its Embassy, the Confederation purchased a land enjoying a spectacular view over the valley West of Sadaemun's fortress walls, all the way from Namsan to Inwangsan. Over the decades that followed, and particularly the past fifteen years, high rise buildings and apartment blocks have claimed big chunks of it, and 6 years ago the neighborhood was almost totally wiped out to make room for Gyonam / Donuimun New Town and its anonymous towers, destroying priceless wonders in the process (see "In memoriam Samdong Samgeori, Gyonam-dong" ).

The Swiss could have looked for another location, and maybe join such Embassy clusters as Seongbuk-dong or Itaewon / Hannam-dong, but they courageously decided to stay. Well they did move to Hannam-dong though, but only the time to avoid that apocalyptic mutation, and to replace their nondescript red brick lair with something new. Here it is, now facing Gyeonam-dong alps instead of Geumhwasan and Tongil-ro valley:

Photo Erae Architects - Swiss Embassy website

Halfway between Hong Lampa house in Hongpa-dong, and the sanitized* Donuimun Museum Village in Sinumunro 2-ga, the new landmark confirms this section of Songwol-gil as some kind of green and architecturally diverse oasis.

One roof, continuous wings, a central madang... the 2019 Swiss Embassy clearly honors the hanok style, but with a modern, deconstructed twist, and a broken version of the traditional 'ㅁ' or 'ㄷ' shapes:

The open spiral from above (mockup - Burckhardt Partner website)

Logo created for the Embassy inauguration

More an open keyring than a locked up Swiss bank vault, this Embassy wraps you up without cutting you from its environment, providing at the same time intimacy and transparency. The wide windowpanes facing the courtyard enable a dialog between the four wings (multipurpose, chancery, representation space, residence of Ambassador Linus von Castelmur), but the building is also open to its surrounding. Even the metal fence lets you see through. And if some semi-private spaces (cafeteria, living room) display some sort of ceramic moucharabieh, their lace is very wide. The biggest windows point to the sky or surrounding gardens, others direct your gaze to the greenest spots of the New Town, so that you never quite face its dead monoliths.

The outer concrete walls echo modern Swiss heritage, but wood is omnipresent, with epicea ceilings, staircases, slabs, and pilars. The lightness of the roof and structure, boosted by a gigantic sail cast over half the courtyard, could be achieved by the burial of most technical machinery in dedicated basement corridors. We also visited the nuclear shelter, compulsory for public structures of a certain size in Switzerland, but maybe not that irrelevant this side of the DMZ.

This environment-friendly building collects heat from the underground (30+ geothermal pumps), power from the sun, and water from the skies, sometimes in an artistic way, thanks to Lena Maria Thuring's 'Water connections' installation, where metal chains direct part of the flow from the rooftop to hanging stones and surface channels:

The visit was led by architects Nicolas Vaucher (Burckhardt Partner), and Lee In-ho (Erae Architects). Obviously, I followed the former:

Nicolas Vaucher in the madang, the staircase, the cafeteria, the nuclear shelter, the machinery, the residence's garden, the representation's dining room, the cultural section, the entrance.

Six years ago, I thought that all of Gyonam-dong's seven neighborhoods would disappear for good. They will never be brought back, but at least, somehow, part of Songwol-dong continues to exist under a new form.


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* see my lukewarm review in the "Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2017" focus

Seoul summerscapes: death, taxes, and budongsan

I'd like to look back to a few urbanistic topics that animated this hot Summer in the city, but let me start with this most recent trip en province.

*

During that lovely Chuseok break in Chungcheongnam-do, we crossed a 'silver neighborhood'. I'd never seen the sign, but the very existence of the label tells a lot. That non-descript suburb felt neither like the kind of ghost towns you see in rural areas, nor like a retirement community, but like a city where people under 70 happen to be absent. At least, in the countryside, you could notice younger generations visiting their gramps for the holidays to help them at what was left of their farms:

Many families farming for Chuseok in Korea countryside: young guns visiting old timers who can barely walk (20160915 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/776275471017218048)

In aging Japan, localities are merging, and to fill millions of empty buildings, signs advertise free rentals, where owners will even pay your utility bills. Korea is also feeling the demographic pinch: many schools are closing, and a few universities shall follow... but still, you can see a lot of apartment blocks under construction in non-booming second to third tier cities, and often in their most rural settings, where land is cheaper. Even if developers manage to sell them today, buyers will have a tougher time doing so in the future.

Yet nowhere is the real estate oversupply more evident than in the capital region: Sudogwon is overshooting by 34.6% with 226,000 apartments too many by 2019, or 46.8% of the nationwide excess*. Significantly, SH changed its name from Seoul Housing Corporation to Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation, confirming a shift from constructing to animating:

SH (Seoul Housing) to be rebranded 서울주택도시공사 from Sept. 1, as focus shifts to urban regeneration (20160830 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/770514127366127616)

But the building phase is not over yet, and in this less than zero game, places like Yongin struggle more and sooner than others:

As expected, Yongin among the losers in Korea's real estate oversupply (20160829 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/770110604992536577) - "After building boom, South Korea girds for housing glut" (Reuters)

At the same time, and as usual, key demographics are protected by local authorities. The only way to help Apgujeong elites sell their overly expensive flats with a profit is to make exceptions to construction rules (e.g. allow very high rise redevelopments and / or reduce the land to be offered for public use), and that's exactly the gifts Seoul mayors made. Both OH Se-hoon and PARK Won-soon, in spite of their pledges to rebalance Seoul's rich and poor neighborhoods, and to stop this urban nonsense...

Seoul mayors Oh and Park both secured Apgujeong elite votes - "Apgujeong real estate hot once again" KJD (20160723 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/756651911223259136)

Of course, the city prefers to communicate about its urban regeneration projects (see "Urban Regeneration: 27 Projects For Seoul"), and the mayor is still going full throttle with his signature Seoul Station 7017. This Summer, the concept has been showcased on Seoul Plaza (as announced by Winy Maas last Spring in Seoul), and featured in CNN's Sustainable Cities special. Judging by how fast the site evolves each time I pass by the neighborhood, 'SS7017' seems on path for a delivery on time for the elections. But its success will also be measured by the positive impacts on all affected neighborhoods - more tasks ahead for the 'grassroot' activists who worked on defusing tensions ahead of the project!

Blue sky over Seoul Square and yes, Seoul Station 7017 #ss7017 #seoul (20160827 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/769446349276262400)

Seoul mayors love to boast about their legacies, and I already drew parallels between the last three,  LEE Myung-bak, OH Se-hoon, and PARK Won-soon (most recently in "Pour ré-enfanter Séoul : trois maires et quelques impairs"). But none had as big an impact as KIM Hyeon-ok (1966-1970), and the best exhibition in Seoul this Summer was arguably** the one devoted to the city's first 'bulldozer mayor' at the Seoul Museum of History:

Seoul's first 'bulldozer mayor' Kim Hyeon-ok (previously Busan mayor) resigned after the collapse of the Changjeon-dong apt (20160810 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/763295834112831488)

Note that the SMH also added Inhyeon-dong to its fantastic collection of Seoul neighborhood monographies, which is not far from KIM Swoo-geun's Seun Sangga, one of KIM Hyeon-ok's iconic projects.

Following Pil-dong's Yesultong festival in May, Jung-gu was definitely an underlying theme for me this Summer. And I enjoyed walking through what was left of KIM Ki-chan's Jungnim-dong with fellow urbanist Valerie Gelezeau, finishing in Yeomcheon Bridge's shoe alley.

I love this house in Jungnim-dong. Too bad it is bound for destruction (20160720 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/755704708577103872)

Speaking of KIM Ki-chan: I learned only last month that two great Seoul photographers had passed away in May: HONG Soon-tai and KIM Han-yong (who donated his collections to the Seoul Museum of History in 2013, leading to a nice exhibition soon afterwards).

Cheonggyecheon alleyways, Seoul 1971. Sad to learn that Hong Soon-tai passed away this year (20160820 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/766890115922735104)

... and so did Kim Han-yong. Here, Daeheung-dong alleyways, Mapo-gu, Seoul (20160820 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/766892185912389632)

Sorry for the tone of this post, but such is predictable Seoul: death, taxes, and 'budongsan'...

We've reached the point when seeing a few old trees spared makes our day. So bravo to Seongbuk-dong residents for stopping the massacre halfway along Seongbuk-ro:

Seongbuk-dong residents protest the removal of old platanus trees along Seongbuk-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (20160816 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/765452146443558912)

*

I couldn't finish these moody lines about vanishing neighborhoods without yet another Gyonam-dong update. As I explained recently to students surveying the area, this was not my favorite Seoul village, and not even a full village at that, but Gyonam-dong didn't deserve that death. And this shouldn't have happened in 2014 Seoul.

I will spare you the heavy slides, and just post one picture and two videos.

The picture is from a tweet (like most illustrations in this piece) about the end of the 'Sinmunno Triangle' between Pyeong-dong and Gyeonghuigung:

The curtain falls for Pyeong-dong, where Seoul dumped its urban recreation museum project - Gyonam-dong (20160810 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/763340100361039872)

The first video is a selection of tweets (timelinelapse?) from 2012 to 2016, about the destruction of Gyonam-dong and the rise of Donuimun New Town (Gyeonghuigung Xii apartments):



The second video is a view from the new staircase built at the top of the new town. You can only see a tiny bit of Seodaemun across Tongil-ro, and of Inwangsan in the distance:




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* see this tweet related to "Real estate market braces for oversupply" (KJD 20160815)
** after LEE Jung-seob at MMCA Deoksugung of course!

Captivating Lee Jung-seob exhibition in MMCA Deoksugung, Seoul (20160806 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/761763045584404480)

The Yongsan itch and the Sajik balm

One up, one down. Seoul speeds up for the redevelopment of Yongsan 4, and puts the brakes on Sajik 2.

We've known for a while* that the future Yongsan Park would be surrounded by high rise structures. After burning their fingers on the doomed Yongsan IBD project, authorities decided to offer their all-you-can-build gifts to speculators in smaller packages, wrapped in green. Here, at the Hangangdae-ro - Seobinggo-ro interesection (Hangangno-dong), a tentative 'Yongsan Parkway' serves as an environmental alibi for more 30-40+ towers:

In Jongno-gu, a far less popular - and far less tragical** - "drama" has also been running for years: the redevelopment of what I call Sajik Heights, the hilly neighborhood nested between Sajik-ro / Sajik Tunnel, Space Bon, and Gyeonghuigung. I've walked its alleyways countless times, and even wrote a short story about Kim Ki-chan meeting my fictional Kim Mudangnim there (the great photographer also used to live in Sajik-dong).

A pigeon, a hanok, a hilly alleyway, Inwangsan - Sajik Heights in 2009

For a decade, Sajik Heights has been preparing for the transformation, and Lotte Castle eventually won the right to build the New Town.

As far as 'urban continuity' goes, it looked consistent with the Gyeonghuigung Xii (Gyonam New Town) rising from the other side of the tunnel / hill / (now almost totally obliterated) fortress wall... 

But Seoul city seized a debate over modifications to stop the process***. Among the landmarks to be protected (let's hope in a less destructive way than nearby Dilkusha****), the 1906 house where Josephine Eaton Peel Campbell lived. I visited that place at the top of the hill, around the time it was used as an office by local residents. It seems to have never been used for the purpose the Campbell estate sold it, which was to promote the education of young girls, in the tradition of Campbell herself, the founder of Baehwa (girls' schools and women's university in Pirun-dong).

Residents are now wondering what's best for them, particularly after witnessing what happened in the vicinity: Gyonam? newtonized. Seochon? bukchonized. So what for Sajikistan?

Whatever happens in the future, something of the old neighborhood shall survive. Or evolve. 

Anyway, it would be nice to see something decent next to a potential UNESCO Heritage site (Yeol still working hard on the Sajik-dan revival*****).

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.
* see for instance "Yongsan park - fake forests and real estates" (Feb. 2011)
** if a person died in Yongsan, no casualties for the only tragedy I witnessed when I lived in Sajik-dong, a hanok fire back in 2009.
*** "사직2구역 재개발 추진 7년…110년 된 캠벨 사택 어쩌나" (JoongAng Ilbo 20160413)
**** less forsaken than 5 year ago (see "Sajik Heights and micro-hanokization"), the building seems to have undergone serious change in the name of 'preservation' 
***** rites have been performed for a long while, and the restoration helped as well (see "Sajik-dan enshrined, Naeja-dong revived ?")

The Republic of Apartments

Even as the "apateu" model is coming to an end (see "Inhuman, all too human Seoul"), Korea remains "The Republic of Apartments" as much as "The Republic of Samsung". But beyond hardware or software, humans always take center stage in Seoul Museum of History's exhibitions, and the original title of this one ("아파트 인생") could be translated as "Apartment life", or maybe even an attenboroughesque "Life in apartments".

"The Republic of Apartments", another great (and moving) @SeoulMuseum show. Gyonam-dong a special guest
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/446085171901521920

*

As is often the case in my favorite Seoul museum, you can enjoy two exhibitions for the price of one (anyway, bonus: the entrance is always free!). And as an appetizer to the main dish, I started with the art gallery curated around a theme that, logically, permeates Korean culture.

Note this installation recounting decades of standardization (what I dubbed "the industrial revolution of housing") by timelapsing apartment maps, sizes and prices:



I browsed so many hundreds of "apateu" brochures and ads that I feel like I recognize them all!

More classic, AHN Sekwon's "Lights of Weolgok-dong" triptych, shot between 2005 and 2007, tells the sad and classic story of a charming Seoul neighborhood replaced by a dull new town scenery (as it happens, probably the Wolgok Samsung Raemian or the Wolgok Doosan We've):

Weolgok-dong series by AHN Sekwon (2005-2007)

Come to think of it, Hawolgok-dong is very close to Jongam-dong, also in Seongbuk-gu, where the first apartment blocks were erected in 1958 (Jongam Apartment)*.

*

Which leads us to the main show, a retrospective on the apartment phenomenon focusing on socio-cultural dimensions. Like often here (e.g. Jongno, Gwanghwamun, "Made in Changsin-dong" expos), it features a real interior that was still inhabited a few months earlier. The pensioner who lived in this one had to move because of the redevelopment:

At least, this time, the victim sacrificed on the altar of this urban nonsense was an "apateu" block, not an architectural wonder.

As expected, a lot of tributes were paid to one of the latest victims of Seoul's caricature of urbanism: Gyonam-dong lies (lied) just hectometers away, on the other side of Gyeonghuigung and the fortress walls. There's even a picture of our "Samdong Samgeori"! (by the way, I was very pleased to learn the other day from Robert J. Fouser that this amazing curved-roofed hanok has been, after all, protected and saved for good). 

Scenes of devastation and gutted hanok are nothing new, as this 1966 bird's eye view of demolished shacks in Inhyeon-dong reminds us.

And a whole section is devoted to the people displaced by evictions, including naturally the familiar images of Kim Dong-won's cult documentary "Sanggye-dong Olympic".

But as always, you're not in for a pure tearjerker. First, there's a lot of hope, love, and happiness - it's about humanity and humanness, life spaces rich in personal histories, with fair testimonies from ordinary citizens and middle class Seoulites. Second, the aim is to share with the visitors the experiences of insiders, help them understand the context and accept all sides of the past, reconciling citizens with their city and history.

*

• "The Republic of Apartments" (March 6 - May 6)
  Seoul Museum of History (museum.seoul.kr) - 55 Saemunan-ro (Sinmunno 2-ga), Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-062
  See also "Wandering Art" expo at the SMH (March 11-30)
• See all posts related to the SMH, and among other exhibitions:
• "A thousand villages, a thousand memories - Seoul Photo Festival 2012"
• "Jongno Elegy"
• "A Retrospective : Kim Ki-chan and the World of Alleys"
•  See all posts related to urbanism.

*

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* special mention to Haengchon Apartment (1969)!

Seoul's New Town and Redevelopment Plan Update

Seoul updated its New Town and Redevelopment Plan after two years of probation*. Citizens are still being surveyed and their comments collected to facilitate key decisions: go/no go, and the allocation of resources and support (including in case of cancellation). The whole process is being monitored and doubled with conflict management teams to prevent the usual bubbles and rumor mill frenzies, but also to learn from best and worst practices.

For the cases without promotion, 266 of 286 surveys have been completed, and the rest shall be done by the end of June 2014.

148 out of these 266 cases are on the hot seat, and three projects have already been cancelled: 

• Cheonho-Seongnae (Cheonho-dong and Seongnae-dong, Gangdong-gu), 
• Mia Gyunchok (Mia Sageori, Gangbuk-gu), 
• Banghwa (Banghwa-dong, Gangseo-gu)

The final cancellation of 16 other projects shall be decided by June: 

• Hapjeong (Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu), 
• Cheonho (Cheonho-dong, Gangdong), 
• Sangbong (Sangbong-dong, Jungnang-gu), 
• Geoyeo-Macheon (Geoyeo-dong and Macheon-dong, Songpa),
• Junghwa (Junghwa-dong, Jungnang-gu), 
• Guui-Jayang (Guui-dong, Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu), 
• Sanggye (Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu), 
• Ahyeon (Ahyeon-dong, Mapo-gu)
• Singil (Singil-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu), 
• Susaek-Jeungsan (Susaek-dong, Jeungsan-dong, Eunpyeong-gu), 
• Jangui (Jangwi-dong, Seongbuk-gu)
• Mia (Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu), 
• Sinjeong (Sinjeong-dong, Yangcheon-gu), 
• Imun-Hwigyeong (Imun-dong and Hwigyeong-dong, Dongdaemun-gu), 
• Gireum (Gireum-dong, Seongbuk-gu), 
• Heukseok (Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu).

The 19 potential red lights (the first 3 are already goners - note that Mia used to be a red light district anyway!)

No big surprises here. As I explained in "Inhuman, all too human Seoul", the New Town model belongs to the past, and it lost momentum in the Capital even before PARK Won-soon claimed City Hall. His bottom-up, collaborative approach was the only way of defusing potential outcries in a city where real estate speculation remains pervasive.

New Towns are not dead yet, and among the projects that will go on, some are already well "advanced", Buk-Ahyeon New Town much more than Donuimun New Town (a.k.a. Gyonam New Town).

And they're only part of Seoul's urban planning problems.

PS: Michael, don't rejoice too soon: the potential end of Ahyeon New Town wouldn't necessarily mean the survival of your old hanok.

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* "뉴타운·재개발 수습방안」추진 2년 성과와 향후 방향 발표" (20140221)

Bitter, Sweet Seoul

Eventually titled "Bitter, Sweet Seoul" ("고진감래"), the "Seoul, Our Movie" project launched last August (see focus) premiered yesterday in Seoul Cinema and in the presence of its 3 promoters - 'les trois Park': co-directors PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong (PARKing CHANce), and Mayor PARK Won-soon, who commissioned the movie for Seoul.

Avant-premiere: press conference following the first screening
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/433118837777510400

Premiere: same cast, second take, following the second screening

The PARK brothers scanned all 9,561 minutes of the 11,852 videos submitted by the public (44% by non-Koreans), ultimately selecting 141 in a one-hour-long final cut that probably owed editor YANG Jinmo a few sleepless nights.

All 141 international participants (film credits)

For his "Life in a day", Ridley Scott could work on 80,000 crowdsourced videos recorded on the same day all over the world but here, the focus wasn't on a moment in time but on the shape-shifter of a city, both modern and old. Contributors were given about 3 months, and could send old material if they fancied. The PARK brothers added TV and Daehan News archive footages, plus a few scenes featuring the Be-Being group on the Han River - most notably the prologue and epilogue.

Such delicate mosaics usually require the right music and soundtrack to at the same time cement them and prevent them from freezing, and this one respects so well the diverse rhythms and pulses of Seoul that I had to ask the PARK brothers the secret of their alchemy (beyond choosing JANG Young-gyu, a great composer for the soundtrack). They explained how the story of Simcheong (Simcheongga - 심청가) became self-evident and clicked naturally with key scenes, not to mention the fact that we're partly seeing Seoul through the eyes of a blind girl's dog, one of the main Ariadne's threads in this maze of a movie (in this traditional pansori - what a bewitching version by Be-Being! -, the daughter of Sim sacrifices herself to save her father, and ultimately helps all blind creatures recover eyesight).

More than a patchwork or a mosaic, PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong considered their work as a symphony composed with a wide array of instruments. What makes the result powerful is its touching simplicity and truth. This isn't just a bibim of personal videos, short fictions, documentaries ("Nevada" on his rooftop), and heartbreaking moments in the city's history (war exodus and destruction, Sungnyemun's collapse...), but a fair tribute to life in Seoul, regardless of each Seoulite's origin, gender, age, or even species.

Seoul Metropolitan Government didn't want to commission yet another postcard video, and allowed full artistic license to the directors. As the title shows, both sides of the coin are exposed, the bitter struggles as well as the sweetest moments. Yes, you do see the embarrassing Floating Islands or Bampo Bridge Rainbow Fountain, but also a fair share of alleyways and dark spots. And even Gyonam-dong (merci Sebastien SIMON for making that dying neighborhood* survive in this portrait of Seoul)!

So here's this collaborative bitter, sweet take at Seoul's villages (300 views so far, but you can help PARK Chan-wook move closer to his 10 M+ record!):




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* see previous posts, including "Last Stand for 2013 and Gyonam-dong" and "In memoriam Samdong Samgeori, Gyonam-dong". The destruction is not totally over yet, but the end of the end is nigh.

Last Stand for 2013 and Gyonam-dong

Only a few hours left for 2013, and for the old Seoul neighborhoods sacrificed for Dongnimmun New Town  (see "In memoriam Samdong Samgeori, Gyonam-dong").

About 70% have been destroyed, but last time I checked - here on Christmas Eve -, my beloved "Samdong Samgeori" was still standing. That's the last hanok before the final stop on the yellow 'supermarket' building:



I took this other shaky video from the other end of the street, up Songwol-dong. Water was sprayed to prevent dust from flying around, but it didn't prevent me and Seoul from choking...



Okay...

... Enough grieving!

I wish you tons of love and happiness for 2014! That's all we need, and the best human ondol system:

Happy New Year! It will literally heat you up
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/417874352454250496

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In memoriam Samdong Samgeori, Gyonam-dong

I often say that you can't shake off Seoul any more than you can shake off death. And if there's a moment when both get at your throat out in the open, that's in the sad limbo of a ghost neighborhood about to be destroyed.

Unfortunately, I've experienced that draining and gloomy moment too often in too many parts of Seoul. I could even recycle for Gyonam what I wrote on these lines four years ago, about "Wangsimni Old Town":

• "Most buildings have been evacuated now. Some have already lost all window frames, exposing their skull with empty sockets staring at nothing. Large plastic drapes cover the first row to prevent people from trespassing or ghosts from leaving the area.
• Yet, I almost prefer that state of redevelopment to the previous one, when human beings roam lifeless streets, when only a few merchants remain open to get the most from compensation schemes, even if only a few customers dare pass by. That's the actual ghost town."

Still lying between Dongnimmun and Donuimun*, Gyonam-dong has reached these final stages of ghosttownhood, and over the past months, I never found the courage to venture beyond its main arteries (Gyeonggyojang-gil, Songwol-gil...). My heart ached enough just watching from a distance (Tongil-ro, the elevated road between Sajik and Geumwha tunnels...) the neighborhood progressively abandon life. And I couldn't bear imagining my favorite places after the evacuation.

You simply can't get used to this experience, and the feeling grows worse each time. Plus I had that special bond with Gyonam-dong, particularly since I used to live nearby, just on the other side of the fortress walls.

Then came the news that a few friends would visit what was left of Gyonam. Not scavengers looking for a thrill or a good shot, but fellow Seoul lovers who care for the soul of old neighborhoods. I probably would never have had the guts to come back otherwise.

Well I still felt nauseous most of the time, but I'm glad I joined. Grieving is much easier when you're not alone, and it's always better to come to the bedside one last time. If not for the soon to be departed, at least for your own comfort.

Except that when you visit a dying old friend in the hospital, you don't spend your time shooting pictures of his ravaged face. These series of empty sockets, suspended calendars, bleeding tiles**, or gutted hanoks are as absurd and obscene as deathmasks:





... but I had to let it all out. Not everything, of course, but at least big chunks of it - I'll probably have to regurgitate more bits somewhen, along more ill-written posts or fictions.

*

I'd already accumulated a lot of dark moments here. This urban annihilation process always takes many years, even after the final decision is made. Note that it also includes construction phases. I'm not referring to the park created a couple of years ago when they restored the fortress walls and the house of composer Hong Nan-pa: this section doesn't belong to the future Dongnimun New Town / Gyonam New Town. What I meant is that certain speculators seize the last opportunities to build bigger houses in order to get higher compensations, replacing for instance a hanok with a three story "villa" hosting several tenants.

Now it's sure: no hanok will be spared. And no architectural wonders among the few survivors: the dong office, the church, the Swiss Embassy (at least it's low-rise and has a few trees), and the only existing apartment block in the neighborhood.

The decision not to include the Dong-A Apartment in the New Town came very early: adding a relatively small piece of land divided among many owners would have too much changed the equation for the other residents. Of course, in a country addicted to big blocks, the value of traditional houses remains hard to fathom. Still, until the very end, I hoped something would be done to save a few hanok - why not the short stretch around the Dong-A, precisely? Or even better: one of these more charming alleyways... but no. Not even a fake hanok to ease the consciences of future tenants (see "Build a hanok and they will come - Marketing impostures and genuine slow urbanism").

Not one single element to honor Gyonam-dong's soul in the future New Town. You'll have to cross its boundaries to see the last echoes of lost eras: a few have been saved and more or less well enshrined (Hong Nan-pa's place in a garden, Gyeonggyojang*** in Samsung Gangbuk Hospital...), but most remain endangered species (Dilkusha****, Yeongcheon Market...). To get a decent salute, we'll have to wait a bit and wish for a Gyonam-dong exhibition at the Seoul Museum of History.

So Gyonam is almost dead, and its corpse will soon be totally discarded. The neighborhoods that used to compose it***** will only remain alive in our memories: Gyobuk-dong, Gyonam-dong, Haengchon-dong, Hongpa-dong, Pyeong-dong, Songwol-dong. And if the names survive, they'll tell a completely new story, where former residents will be projected in a new high rise utopia.

Gyonam is almost dead, but during these final days, life goes on: birds, cats, unkempt trees and flowers, the odd humans (last residents, squatters, old friends...).

*

I said goodbye to some of my favorite parts of the neighborhood, and of course to "Samdong Samgeori", where the street forms a cute "bell curve" (urban planners would call it 'Gaussian', but we're in Jongno, and that should ring a bell). I call it Samdong Samgeori because it's at the intersection of Gyonam-dong, Hongpa-dong, and Songwol-dong.

I spent hours there, just to enjoy the place and its atmosphere, sometimes from up the street, watching people and bikes pass by. In the late afternoon, when the light hit the tiled red and yellow buildings around the central hanok cluster, the colors would explose, and the area grow even more mystical.

For this last visit, the barber shop sign was still hanging, but the bikes long gone. We could see the place from above, and marvel at the amazing pattern drawn by merging hanok roofs.

Like the last character of some dying language.


Seoul Village 2013
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* see "Donuimun Restoration and Sadaemun Resurrection" (2009/10)
** see towards the end of the video, the hanok roof tiles bleeding their clay (about this architectural detail, see "Am I My Hanok's Keeper? Peter E. Bartholomew's Defense and Illustration of Korean Architecture")
*** see "Gyeonggyojang back to Donuimun"
**** see "Sajik Heights and micro-hanokization"
***** see "Jongno-gu dongs". Yes, Haengchon-dong stretches far beyond the New Town limits, but I haven't seen many hanok on the other side of Sajik-ro.