The Corbusier Line in Korea
한국의 코르뷔지에 라인
Le Corbusier's Paris atelier trained the first generation of modernists from across the world. Korea's gateway is Kim Chung-up, who apprenticed there from 1952 to 1955 and brought back a Corbusian vocabulary that he proceeded to fuse with Korean traditional curves and craft. Visit the French Embassy in Seoul to see this synthesis at its peak.
The chain
Swiss-French pioneer of modern architecture. His 'Five Points of Architecture' (pilotis, free plan, free façade, ribbon windows, roof garden) shaped 20th-century design worldwide. His Paris atelier trained the next generation, including Korea's Kim Chung-up (1952-1955).
First Korean architect to apprentice in Le Corbusier's Paris atelier (1952-1955). Brought Corbusian modernism to Korea while infusing it with Korean curves and craft. His French Embassy in Seoul (1962) is often called Korea's most important modern building.
Visit on this lineage
French Embassy in Seoul
(주한 프랑스 대사관)by Kim Chung-up (김중업)· 1962· 서울 서대문구Kim Chung-up's masterpiece, often called Korea's most important modern building. The roof's curving canopy, evocative of traditional Korean eaves, sits atop a Corbusian pilotis — a synthesis Kim developed during his Paris atelier years.
Must-seeexterior onlySamil Building (31 Building)
(삼일빌딩 (3.1빌딩))by Kim Chung-up (김중업)· 1970· 서울 종로구Korea's first 31-story skyscraper and the country's tallest building until 1980. A Mies-influenced steel-and-glass curtain wall in central Seoul, designed by Kim Chung-up — proof that a Corbusier-trained Korean architect could also master Miesian rigor.
Notableexterior onlyJeju University Main Building (former)
(제주대학교 옛 본관)by Kim Chung-up (김중업)· 1964· 제주 제주시Demolished in 1995 to widespread regret among Korean architects, this curving white concrete shell-form was Kim Chung-up's most dramatic Corbusian gesture in Korea. Often compared to Le Corbusier's Ronchamp chapel. Today only photographs survive.
Of interestdemolishedprivate — view from outsideWorld Peace Gate
(평화의 문)by Kim Chung-up (김중업)· 1988· 서울 송파구Kim Chung-up's last work, completed posthumously for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The soaring red-and-blue canopies in Olympic Park reinterpret traditional Korean eaves at monumental scale.
Of interestopen to publicSogang University R Hall (Albertus Magnus Hall)
(서강대학교 R관 (본관))by Kim Chung-up (김중업)· 1959· 서울 마포구An early Kim Chung-up work — the original main hall of Sogang University, completed three years after his return from Le Corbusier's atelier. The pilotis-and-ribbon-window vocabulary is the most directly Corbusian of his Korean work, before he began folding in Korean traditional curves.
Notableopen to public