Two-story Korean-style Commercial Building at Namdaemun-ro, Seoul

A typical brick-built Korean-style commercial building constructed on Namdaemun-ro, Seoul during the Japanese colonial period. It is the only such building remaining in Seoul today, and has historical significance and architectural value as a building that well illustrates the characteristics of commercial architecture on Namdaemun-ro at that time. From the 1900s to the 1910s there was a boom, centred on Namdaemun-ro in Seoul, in building two-storey Korean-Western eclectic (hanyang jeolchungsik) commercial buildings one after another along Namdaemun-ro and other major thoroughfares such as Jongno. Until then single-storey buildings had been the mainstream, but two-storey buildings began to be built in succession; construction shifted from the tradition of timber-frame structures to brick (mainly fired-brick) masonry, and roofs moved away from traditional roof framing to Western-style timber trusses. As these were mainly commercial buildings, timber frames and balustrades were fitted on the exterior around doors and windows, decorated with the patterns that were fashionable at the time.

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Where it is

Region

Jung-gu, Seoul

Designation

Registered Cultural Heritage · 국가등록문화유산