Main Building of Former National Industrial Institute

This building was constructed in 1908, the second year of the Yunghui era of Emperor Sunjong of the Korean Empire. It is a two-storey wooden structure with a floor area of 997 ㎡, designed by the Construction Bureau of the Takjibu (Ministry of Finance) of the time. It is the only wooden building of its kind surviving from that period; the walls are finished with German-style clapboarding, and the exterior imitates the Renaissance style. The site had originally been occupied by a machinery testing institute dating back to the days of the Mint Bureau (Jeonhwanguk), and this building was erected as the main hall when the Industrial Training Institute was established there in 1906. It later became the main building of the National Industrial Testing Institute, and has since been used by the Korea National Open University, down to the present day. The design was undertaken entirely by the Construction Bureau of the former Korean government's Takjibu, while the construction work was carried out by the Japanese builder Yoshida Kenzō. The plan is in the shape of the letter H, with an entrance at the centre; the outer walls are finished with wooden clapboarding, and the roof is tiled. In particular, a tower rises above the central entrance, topped with a hemispherical dome, and Diocletian windows, favoured by Palladio, are set into the upper storeys of the projecting sections on either side, giving the whole building the character of a Renaissance-era Palazzo style.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적