Seoul Apatu

Abstract

CIAM’s Charter of Athens and Le Corbusier’s books stipulated new urban planning and new laws of architecture. The theory of the modern architectural movement, which defines the principles of modern cities, has been systematically applied since the construction of the French apartment complex. “Mapo Apartment” was the first complex-type apartment in South Korea built by the government in 1962, and Korean call it “Apatu.” However, contrary to the original intention of modernist high-rise apartments, it actually played an object of desire as an urban landmark for the upper class of South Korea. Over the next sixty years, apartments have completely established themselves as Korea’s representative residential typology, and about four hundreds thousands housing units continue to be produced until now under the leadership of large capital.

First, a comparative analysis between US and Korea explains the success and failure of modern architecture. This movement of modernization appeared in different forms between US and Korea. “Pruitt-Igoe” in US can be said to be “a house is a machine for living in” as a product of industrialization. It was an apartment building to accommodate a sudden increase in the urban population, but it soon faced limitations symbolizing poor management, poor architectural beauty, and poor living conditions. On the other hand, Korea’s “Apatu” was, conversely, used as a tool for industrialization. At that time, the government built “Apatu” to urbanize the capital city Seoul, thereby achieving the goal of increasing the population and development of the city. Since then, “Apatu” has successfully operated as “A house is a machine for industrializing,” which symbolizes modernized and luxurious lifestyles.

Next, the history of Apatu will be studied. The Korean modernity of the modernist ideal proposal will be investigated. In Korea, the history of high-rise housing called Apatu can be largely divided into three stages. From the early 1930s to the 1960s, it was used as a solution to solve the housing problem in Seoul in the process of modernization after the Korean War. However, from the 1970s, the target class of Apatu was changed to the middle class, and from that time the supply of it began in earnest. In the process, private construction companies participated in the industry. After that, There was fierce competition between major construction companies, and as a result, Apatu product of more value than necessary continued to be produced. Since then, each construction company has taken various strategies to sell Apatu to the public at a higher price.

Le Corbusier’s utopian theory was left as a dystopia of commercialization of architecture contrary to his intention through the process of Korean modernization. As a result, major elements closely related to the residential environment, such as school districts of good quality and comfortable infrastructure have been determined depending on which brand’s apartment complex it is, which soon caused a continuous rise in its housing prices. In other words, it has served as a place for reproduction, where wealth is continuously transferred and high-quality education is provided. Fundamental solutions will be studied to overcome the problems created by the top-down development of such standardized housing.