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General Article

Historical sustainability and the embodiment of ‘traditionality’ in Korean contemporary architecture: Critical perspective based on Kenneth Frampton’s theory of ‘Critical Regionalism’
Changhyun Lim1
,
Myengsoo Seo2*
1Ph.D. Student, Department of Architecture, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea
2Associate Professor, School of Architecture, Hankyong National University, Anseong, South Korea
*Corresponding Author
30 September 2025. pp. 402-415
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Abstract

This research explores the ‘traditionality’ on Korean contemporary Architecture around the 21st century. The introduction of modern architecture in Korea contributed to addressing challenges such as the need for rapid postwar development by providing sufficient housing in a short period after the Korean War. However, these modern buildings, which were built after the 1950s with mostly Western- oriented-style and technologies, were insufficient encompassing architecture’s identity. Therefore, Korean architecture had lost its authentic traditionalism and regionalism because these modern buildings were built without considering the criticism and solving cultural agonies in Korean context. This lack of traditionalism and regionalism in Korean architecture had been discussed since the 1960s from a few Korean architects, but they had a hard time in incarnating Korean architecture’s identity due to the economy-first policy until 1980s. However, from the 1990s a few Korean contemporary architects such as the 4·3 Group began to seriously think about synthesizing the traditionalism and modernity. Their efforts could be understood the context of historical sustainability which means the history of architecture from tradition to modern and post-modern through the expression of rationalism in architecture. In this sense, this study seeks to find out how ‘traditionality’ is embodied into contemporary architecture after 1990s. In order to scrutinize the originality and its characteristics, this study examines three buildings constructed after 1990 that effectively embody a sense of traditionality: Sujoldang by Hyo-sang Seung, Yeounheon by Kyung-guk Woo, and the Whanki Museum by Kyu-sung Woo. Through this, this research tried to examine the traditional design elements of contemporary architecture, in which internationalism and tradition are dialectically viewed. Moreover, these buildings were reviewed from the perspective of Kenneth Frampton’s “Critical regionalism” which played a significant role in reflecting the identity of architecture from the 1980s in the West. This study helps Korean architecture establish principles in the traditional element of architectural design, and further to establish Korean architecture’s identity between the tradition and modernity.

Keywords
historical sustainability
traditionality
korean modern architecture
kenneth frampton
critical regionalism
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Information
  • Publisher :Sustainable Building Research Center (ERC) Innovative Durable Building and Infrastructure Research Center
  • Publisher(Ko) :건설구조물 내구성혁신 연구센터
  • Journal Title :International Journal of Sustainable Building Technology and Urban Development
  • Volume : 16
  • No :3
  • Pages :402-415
  • Received Date : 2025-06-26
  • Accepted Date : 2025-08-25
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.22712/susb.20250026
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