Examining the significance of spatial layout experiments in Joseon houses: a detailed analysis of Jungdang-style houses in the 1920s–1930s Gyeongseong

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the 1920s and 1930s, Gyeongseong (the former name for Seoul) experienced a significant population increase, leading to severe housing shortages and haphazard, large-scale development. During this time, urban housing blocks were densely clustered Joseon houses often with eaves touching those of neighboring buildings. Despite this, they preserved the Jungjeong-style layouts and reflected the Confucian patriarchal culture. The Jungjeong-style layouts in Joseon houses necessitated ensuring natural sunlight and ventilation and improving interior spaces for women’s convenience and household chores. Consequently, the Jungdang-style experiments in these houses aimed to provide a standard for preserving traditional characteristics, ensuring natural light and ventilation, and enhancing household chore efficiency. These experiments also involved discourses on urban planning and density, taking into account neighboring houses, lots, roads, and building-to-land ratios (floor area ratios). However, the Jungdang-style experiments failed to become a leading discourse in addressing that era’s housing and urban environment issues. Nevertheless, the experiments conducted by Joseon’s architectural experts are significant as they represent social experiments addressing the challenges of haphazard urban architecture in a rapidly urbanizing context and a booming urban population.