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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Korean Traditional Landscape Architecture

Currently, a number of books on Japanese landscape architecture in English are available, including easy-to-understand books on how to build a Japanese-style garden for a private residence. In stark contrast, it is difficult to find any English-language books on Korea’s traditional gardens, despite the fact that they are said to be the origin of Japanese gardens. Clearly, there has not been a proper introduction of Korean traditional gardens to even those foreigners with a keen interest in the traditional landscape architecture of Korea.
On the occasion of a conference of the International Federation of Landscape Architects, which was held in Korea in 1992, a book on Korean traditional landscape architecture was published in English for the first time for the benefit of foreign landscape architects. But thereafter, not a single new book on this subject has been published in English. I am thus most pleased that the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture was able to publish Korean Traditional Landscape Architecture in English, in 2007. Based on the contributions of 14 scholars of Korea’s traditional architecture, the book was published by Hollym Publishers, with support from the Korea Foundation.

Traditional Landscape Architecture and Building Type
The book is comprised of ten chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the natural environment, ideology, and religious background that contributed to the creation of the fundamental characteristics of Korea’s traditional landscape architecture. Landscape archi tecture of palaces, from the Gojoseon (Old Joseon) to the Joseon eras, is examined in Chapter 2, while spatial structure and landscape architectural techniques for traditional villages and houses are covered in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 describes the spatial characteristics and landscape features of old for t resses, with a focus on the fortress compounds of Nagan, Jeongui, Haemi, and Gochang. Discussed in Chapter 5 are Byeolseo Jeongwon and hermitage gardens built during the Three-Kingdom and Goryeo periods, along with detailed information about those related to the Joseon Dynasty.
Chapter 6 describes royal tombs, in regard to location, spatial elements, and landscape characteristics. In Chapter 7, under a theme of pavilions, there is a discussion of the differences among the pavilions of Korea, China, and Japan, types of pavilions, and palgyeong (eight scenic views). Chapter 8 explains the landscape architecture of Buddhist temples, in terms of location, spatial structure, and landscape features. Chapter 9, on seowon (private academies), covers their location, site layout, facilities, and trees. Finally, Chapter 10 describes a village forest, along with explaining its relationship with indigenous religions, "pungsu (feng shui)", and Confucianism.

Reader-Friendly Content
The writing of this book included contributions from 14 scholars of Korea’s architecture and traditional landscape, who each wrote on subjects related to their particular expertise. This was an especially effective approach, because the wide scope of the subject areas would tend to exceed the indepth knowledge of even the most distinguished specialists of Korea’s traditional landscape architecture. Moreover, much effort was made to maintain the reader’s interest through the liberal use of color photographs, old paintings, and various illustrations. Of note, there is also a glossary section that helps to explain basic concepts and principles, technical terms, and various proper nouns.
The book chapters are intended to discuss the types of traditional Korean landscape architecture based on building type. Accordingly, there are chapters with detailed information on hermitage gardens and the landscape architecture of palace grounds. In general, each chapter includes a basic introduction, discussion of the specific subject, and related observations and conclusions. It is also noteworthy that the publication represents a comprehensive compilation of the accumulated research on the traditional landscape architecture of Korea. Related research has been ongoing for the past 35 years, as evidenced by the numerous papers and books on this subject in Korean.



The availability of this publication, in light of the serious dearth of resources on Korea’s traditional landscape architecture in English and other foreign languages, is especially meaningful and timely, which will do much to enhance inter nat ional awareness and appreciation of the remarkable landscape principles developed by ancient Koreans. Although there is certain variation in the depth and structure of the deive narratives, and various technical terms may be unfamiliar to readers, Korean Traditional Landscape Architecture is a comprehensive source of useful information about the traditional landscape architecture of Korea, in English, for general readers as well as those with an in-depth interest in the subject.

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