Seoul, Sunday 25 March 2012. It’s a cold, sunny morning, like the day before. I’ve booked myself on a walking trip of Seoul’s palace area, courtesy of the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea branch. We’re due to meet outside the Deoksu Palace at 9am, hence in part my reluctance to over-indulge the previous evening. It’s a … [Read More]
People: Peter Bartholomew
Read an obituary by Andrew Salmon in the Asia Times here: US guardian of Korean heritage passes
Foreigners struggle to preserve Seoul’s hanok heritage
Foreign hanok defenders battle obliteration of Seoul’s architectural heritage. Andrew Salmon writes for Yonhap on David Kilburn and Peter Bartholomew (above). http://bit.ly/97IhMI Also echoed in the Joongang Ilbo. #. I’ve been trying to arrange for David Kilburn to give a talk on preservation at the KCC in London, but I think the whole thing is … [Read More]
The art of hanok living
It’s good to see westerners other other than David Kilburn pointing out that you don’t have to demolish a Hanok to make it inhabitable: http://bit.ly/4GWamM #. Peter Bartholomew and Tom Coyner in the Joongang Daily. There is a belief in Korea (and other Asian countries) that total demolition of an old traditional building and new … [Read More]
Now comes the hard part: the task facing the Lee Myung-bak presidency
The easy bit was to capitalise on disaffection with the Roh regime. Now President-elect Lee has to figure out how to deliver on his election slogan: the 747 economy. So now Lee has to set South Korea on a course where annual GDP growth is 7%, GDP per head is $40,000 per annum, and South … [Read More]
Seoul’s hanoks
There was a feature in FT a couple of weeks ago on the Bukchon district of Seoul. It’s a place as far as you can get from Apgujeong in terms of style of living. It’s the sort of place where Kim Ki-duk might be caught filming traditional housing as seen in 3-Iron, and is inhabited … [Read More]