| Title |
Korean Apartment Housings from the period of Japanese Occupation |
| Keywords |
Apartment Housings ; Multi-family Housing ; Period of Japanese Occupation |
| Abstract |
This study aims to clarify the characteristics of apartment housings built in Korea during the Japanese occupation, with analyses on their aims, builders, users, the perception of both architects and the general public, and architectural features such as unit plan, size, and structure.
The Joint Official Residence constructed by the Office of Railroads in 1927 is assumed to be the first example of apartment-typed multi-family housing - their general construction all over the country commenced in the 1930s with Toyota Apartment and Mikuni Apartment, both built in 1930. Aimed at singles or small families of middle income, these apartments were mostly built by the Japanese, and their three or four stories of structure were built in concrete or bricks. Incorporating lifestyles of both the West and Japan, unit plans were designed after Tadami floors, and were divided into two categories - those for singles and for small families. The inclusion of several public facilities also characterized the apartments of this period.
The number of these apartments reached a certain limit because it was mainly built for the Japanese, whose population was relatively small. From the end of the 1930s the spread of this building type was halted by shortage of building materials in wartime Japan, but its significance in introducing apartments to Korea's middle class for the first time cannot be denied. |