Customer Reviews

The Secret Spirit of Korean Architecture (Saffron Korea Library)

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This book was originally written for the local architectural magazine ("Yi-Sang-Kun-Chook") in S. Korea for a period of two years in early 90's.

Prof. Kim's writing became instantly popular among scholars, students, and professionals in S. Korea. I was one of the addicted members of his monthly writings.

There were already many books on the history of Korean Architecture, but none of them had the present eye as his did. Most of the boring existing books contained the vocabulary of korean architecture and dynastic style-identification (by-gone analytical tool in the West) that was a poor replica of history of western architecture.

On the other hand, Prof. Kim's work was extremely original. Relying heavily on his field trip, he was able to tell the audience about the spirit of place and setting with his own voice. His explanation to the background history was very intriguing. He would sometimes use current TV series to easily explain the past settings or sometimes he would use current headline news to explain the urgency of the matter at that time.

In short, his depiction of history was very journalistic. Above all, Prof. Kim was not a scholar who only delved into the theoretical books in library. Former architect, his analysis are restless, impulsive, and wiggly. It enlivens the souls of readers. For the first time, mass of architectural audience in Korea packed their bags to go and see the traditional architecture.

Competition themes and architectural discourses in Korea shifted their centers to traditional architecture. Rich in samples, light in writing, deep in thoughts.... great book ! (I believe this is only the first book of the masterfully written trilogy.)