Tan Junwei Jason

세운청계천상가 SEWOON CHEONGGYECHEON SANGGA

Conservation and Heritage

Supervisor - Dr. Johannes Widodo

To foreigners, Seoul is just a capital of Korea. However, for Koreans, Seoul is a rapidly changing city that is losing its tradition. This thesis aims to explore alternatives for conserving post-war modern architecture in South Korea, specifically at Sewoon Sangga. Seoul had undergone numerous urban transformations through the annexation by the Japanese Colonial as well as during the post-war period. In order to accommodate urban growth as well as symbolise the nation’s rapid progress, many large-scale urban projects were showcased in the pursuit of modernization. One of such cases was Sewoon Sangga.

Sewoon Sangga consists of a series of four blocks, and was the first modern building built that provided new modern lifestyle and urban form in the rapidly changing Korea. It was a major development during Seoul’s urban modernisation period. However, after standing tall for almost 60 years, it has evoked much criticism and debate regarding the demolition of the building for future development. Recognizing the rich historical monumentality of this building, this thesis rediscovers the historical significance of Sewoon Sangga by ploughing through its historical urban fabric, to give meaning and value to conservation. The intervention eventually took the form of a high-tech mix-used hypermarket- a detailed design scheme that focuses on one of the buildings, Sewoon Cheonggyecheon Sangga.