Seoul (1910-1945): the Modern Movement through the lens of Japan.

In the years in which the West has been reflecting upon a new architecture corresponding to a new idea both of society and of progress, the values and the forms of the Modern Movement were also crossing the western frontiers. The paper will deal with define the ways through the Modern Architecture came in Korea and, above all, how its values changed through the encounter with local history and how its style adapted to the Korean culture. The contribution will be focused on the Japanese Colonial Period (1910-1945): this time corresponds to the maximum expression of the western Modern Movement, and besides, exactly in this historical moment the Modern Architecture seems to enter in Korea through the “lens” of the Japanese architects who built there. If the Modern Architecture in Japan was deeply influenced by Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, the country already knew the Frank Lloyd Wright works, especially through the buildings erected there by the architect from 1912 to 1921. Moreover, after the World War I the Japanese architects began to make their own original contributions to the development of the International Style in Modern Architecture. In which way the Bruno Taut’s “Five Points” (1929) of Modern Architecture (concerning themes as utility, materials, style, beauty, social significance) are been accepted by the modern architectures built in this part of Asia? This study intends to investigate emblematic Korean public buildings afferent to the Japanese Colonial Period, with the aim to analyze the very different levels of “adaptation” to the western architectural modern style that these examples suggest: - the Cheondogyo Central Temple in Anguk-dong (1921). Despite this building was designed by a Japanese architect and constructed during the second decade of the XX Century, this is a Viennese secession style temple; - the Mitsukoshi Branch-Store (today Shinsegye Department Store, 1930). It was the first big scale store of the modern city, designed by the Japanese architect Hayashi Kouhei. Both its function and its forms made the building a symbol of culture from the western way of life; - the Main Hall, Old Keijo Imperial University (today Seoul National University, 1931). Reinforced concrete structure built in modernist style. It’s covered in scratch tile, a decorative tile designed by Wright during his time in Japan. Wright left a deep impact on Japanese modern architecture and this impact crossed over into colonial Korea, where we already find a number of colonial-era buildings with a clear Wrightian influence; - the Dasan Hall, Old Keijo Imperial University (today Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 1942). The old electrical engineering building deeply reflects the architectural style of the Japan’s wartime allies, Germany and Italy. Long lines, unbroken rows of rectangular windows and no ornamentation, communicate a complete acceptance for the Rationalist Architecture. Other examples will allow us to outline the different levels of acceptance to the Modern Movement as a western concept and, at the same time, to delineate how the local history and culture developed the concept of “Modern” in this part of Asia.