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A Magical Mishmash of Traditional and Post-Modern in Korea

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In Seoul’s old Buam-dong neighborhood, a curious blend of ancient and modern makes a strange alliance in this adaptation for a young Korean family.

The clients loved old traditional Korean houses, and bought the tile roofed traditional house – plus a motley assortment of sheds that came with it – from the old couple who had owned it.

Then they hired JYA-RCHITECTS to make a mix of old and new that would work for their young family.

The architects felt the house had run its course. Structural conditions in the traditional house were very bad.

The roof pillars were rotten, the walls tilted, and the roof had partially collapsed here and there, with broken rafters.

However, the young couple was adamant about including the old house – despite the added difficulties – in a new home.

So the architects first set the tilted old house upright again by replacing or reinforcing pillars to hold it up.

The broken rafters were replaced, and the leaking roof tiles repaired, and new height to the cramped space was added – by excavating down to lower the floor.

They inserted insulation and re-plastered the ceilings and walls, recreating its original lovingly crafted charm.

The new upright position with the new beams made all the difference. Now the old house was sound and safe.

Now the architects were ready to build a bridge between old and new.

Blue painted steel mesh was chosen for this connecting platform.

The practicality of a sunken floor level bathtub for bathing the children appears at the intersection of the playground area in the new section.

Despite all their divergent styles, all of the four apparently different ‘houses’ are now warm and structurally safe.

The storeroom is an entirely new structure that rises where the shabby tin roofed sheds had been.

Now two sleeping lofts, with wonderful well placed sky lights, are spacious places in the old storeroom, uncompromisingly post-modern.

Probably not something this architect wants to attempt again, but what an amusing mishmash of styles, all working together.