Bringing Korea to the K-12 Classrooms

Korean Heating System and Architecture

National Korean Studies SeminarCopyright 2014

Sung Kim and Mary Connor

Korean Houses• Traditional Korean houses

remained relatively unchanged from the Three Kingdoms period through the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

• The traditional Korean house is called Hanok.

Two major styles1. Ancient Korean architecture

can be classified into two major styles: 1) palaces and temples 2) houses of common people

2. The houses of common people are called “Hanok. The style and structure of Hanok may vary depending on their location in Korea.

Major Characteristics of Korean Architecture

1. The natural environment was always regarded as an element of supreme importance in Korean architecture.

2. Numerous Buddhist temples across the country were located in mountains noted for their scenic beauty, and their structures were carefully arranged so as to achieve an ideal harmony with the natural surroundings.

Major Characteristics of Korean Architecture

1. In selecting the site for a building of any function, Koreans tended to attach special meaning to the natural environment.

2. They did not consider a place good enough for a building unless it commanded an appropriate view of "mountains and water."

House for Lower class: Choga jip

1. Traditional Korean houses remained relatively unchanged from the Three Kingdoms period through the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

2. The house covered with a thatched roof is called “Choga jip.” The house covered with a wood roof is called “Nowa jip.” Lower class people lived in these houses.

Choga jip Nowa jip

House for Upper Class: Giwa jip

1. Koreans of the upper classes built larger houses with tiled roofs. The roofs were elegantly curved and accentuated with slightly uplifting eaves.

2. These houses are called “Giwa jip”.

Upper Class house: Giwa jip1. Traditional houses were built without using any nails

but rather assembled with wooden pegs. 2. Upper-class houses consisted of a number of

separate structures, one for accommodation of women and children, one for the men of the family and their guests, and another for servants, all enclosed within a wall.

3. A family ancestral shrine was built behind the house. A lotus pond was sometimes created in front of the house outside the wall.

'Ondol'( 온돌 warm-stone)

A traditional Korean house is called Hanok. The A traditional Korean house is called Hanok. The Hanok has anHanok has an

'Ondol'('Ondol'( 온돌 온돌 warm-stone) style room which is warm-stone) style room which is efficient by warming up stone of the room efficient by warming up stone of the room during the cold winter time.during the cold winter time.

Ondol: Floor heating system

1. The Ondol style heating system has been deeply rooted in the Korean life style even in today.

2. Many Korean houses still have an Ondol heating system inside the house although those look western styles from outside.

Korean Heating System: Ondol

• An ondol, also called gudeul, in Korean traditional architecture, is underfloor heating that uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to the underside of a thick masonry floor.

Korean Heating System: Ondol

• Traditionally, the source of heat for the Ondol was a fireplace.

• This might be located in the kitchen or on the outside wall of the living room.

• Horizontal flues—passageways for heat and smoke—ran beneath the room’s floor, connecting the fireplace and the chimney. Hot air from the fire passed through the flues and heated the stone and mud floor.

Ondol and Giwa• Ondol, a unique Korean under-floor heating system, was first

used in the north. • Smoke and heat were channeled through flues built under the

floor. • In the warmer south, ondol was used together with wooden

floors. The major materials of traditional houses were clay and wood.

• Giwa, or black-grooved tiles for roof, were made of earth, usually red clay.

• Today, the presidential mansion is called Cheongwadae, or Blue House, after the blue tiles used for its roof.

Gyeongbok Palace

1. Built at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty when the Yi Dynasty moved the capital to Seoul, this palace remained the main seat of power for Korea kings throughout much of the time to the present.

Gyeongbok Palace

1. Gyeongbok means Shining Happiness. 2. Gyeongbok Palace was built as the primary palace of the

Joseon Kingdom by its founder, King Taejo in 1395, the fourth year of his reign.

Palaces in Joseon Dynasty

Buddhist temples in Korea

Buddhist temples in Korea

King’s Tombs

• King Sunjo’s tomb of Joseon Dynasty

• Taejo Wanggun’s tomb of Goryeo Dynasty

References• http://my.dreamwiz.com/ikaroc/index2.html• http://ns.shingu-c.ac.kr/~nsbaek/kykhtour/palace/

firstpage2.html• http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/pro-

architecture.htm

• http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Buddhist+temple&btnG=Search

• Note: The most comprehensive website on Asian architecture is orientalarchitecture.com