Appropriating the socialist way of life: the emergence of mass housing in post-war North Korea

Abstract

This article examines the mechanisms and principles of North Korea's urban housing designs that appeared following the Korean War (1950–1953). Early in the reconstruction period, the new-born socialist nation imported housing models from the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. However, as urbanisation proceeded rapidly, as a result of policies aimed at developing heavy industry, North Korean architects faced two challenges: first, they had to develop their own standard models in the light of their technical limitations regarding prefabricated construction, and second, they had to socialise the country's way of life in its dwelling spaces. Notably, housing types imported from other socialist countries conflicted with the traditional Korean way of life and eventually went through an adaptive process. By the early 1960s, North Korean architects had arrived at new standard models that are still influential in North Korea's large cities. This study attempts to gain insight into the essential components of North Korea's socialist urban housing and domestic culture by focusing on changes and continuity in North Korea's post-war urban housing.