1. Traditional Korean architecture can be classified into palaces/temples and common houses called Hanok. Hanok styles varied by location but consistently used natural materials and integrated the environment. 2. Wealthier upper-class homes called Giwa jip had tiled roofs while lower-class homes like Choga jip and Nowa jip had thatched roofs. 3. Hanok incorporated the ondol underfloor heating system, where flues beneath wooden floors circulated heat from a fireplace to warm the home. The ondol remains widely used in modern Korean homes.

1. Bringing Korea to the K-12 Classrooms
Korean Heating System
and Architecture
National Korean Studies Seminar
Copyright 2014
Sung Kim and Mary Connor

2. Korean Houses
• Traditional Korean houses
remained relatively
unchanged from the Three
Kingdoms period through
the late Joseon Dynasty
(1392-1910).
• The traditional Korean
house is called Hanok.

3. Two major styles
1. Ancient Korean architecture
can be classified into two
major styles: 1) palaces and
temples 2) houses of common
people
2. The houses of common
people are called “Hanok. The
style and structure of Hanok
may vary depending on their
location in Korea.

4. Major Characteristics of Korean
Architecture
1. The natural environment was always regarded as an element
of supreme importance in Korean architecture.
2. Numerous Buddhist temples across the country were located
in mountains noted for their scenic beauty, and their
structures were carefully arranged so as to achieve an ideal
harmony with the natural surroundings.

5. Major Characteristics of Korean
Architecture
1. In selecting the site for a building of any function, Koreans
tended to attach special meaning to the natural
environment.
2. They did not consider a place good enough for a building
unless it commanded an appropriate view of "mountains and
water."

6. House for Lower class: Choga jip
1. Traditional Korean houses remained relatively unchanged
from the Three Kingdoms period through the late Joseon
Dynasty (1392-1910).
2. The house covered with a thatched roof is called “Choga jip.”
The house covered with a wood roof is called “Nowa jip.”
Lower class people lived in these houses.
Choga jip Nowa jip

7. House for Upper Class: Giwa jip
1. Koreans of the upper classes built larger houses with tiled roofs.
The roofs were elegantly curved and accentuated with slightly
uplifting eaves.
2. These houses are called “Giwa jip”.

8. Upper Class house: Giwa jip
1. Traditional houses were built without using any nails
but rather assembled with wooden pegs.
2. Upper-class houses consisted of a number of
separate structures, one for accommodation of
women and children, one for the men of the family
and their guests, and another for servants, all
enclosed within a wall.
3. A family ancestral shrine was built behind the house.
A lotus pond was sometimes created in front of the
house outside the wall.

9. 'Ondol'( 온돌 warm-stone)
A traditional Korean house is called Hanok. The Hanok has anA traditional Korean house is called Hanok. The Hanok has an
'Ondol'('Ondol'( 온돌온돌 warm-stone) style room which is efficient bywarm-stone) style room which is efficient by
warming up stone of the room during the cold winter time.warming up stone of the room during the cold winter time.

10. Ondol: Floor heating system
1. The Ondol style heating system has been deeply
rooted in the Korean life style even in today.
2. Many Korean houses still have an Ondol heating
system inside the house although those look
western styles from outside.

11. Korean Heating System: Ondol
• An ondol, also called gudeul, in Korean
traditional architecture, is underfloor heating
that uses direct heat transfer from wood
smoke to the underside of a thick masonry
floor.

12. Korean Heating System: Ondol
• Traditionally, the source of heat for the Ondol was a
fireplace.
• This might be located in the kitchen or on the outside
wall of the living room.
• Horizontal flues—passageways for heat and smoke—
ran beneath the room’s floor, connecting the fireplace
and the chimney. Hot air from the fire passed through
the flues and heated the stone and mud floor.

13. Ondol and Giwa
• Ondol, a unique Korean under-floor heating system, was first
used in the north.
• Smoke and heat were channeled through flues built under the
floor.
• In the warmer south, ondol was used together with wooden
floors. The major materials of traditional houses were clay
and wood.
• Giwa, or black-grooved tiles for roof, were made of earth,
usually red clay.
• Today, the presidential mansion is called Cheongwadae, or
Blue House, after the blue tiles used for its roof.

14. Gyeongbok Palace
1. Built at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty when the Yi
Dynasty moved the capital to Seoul, this palace remained
the main seat of power for Korea kings throughout much of
the time to the present.

15. Gyeongbok Palace
1. Gyeongbok means Shining Happiness.
2. Gyeongbok Palace was built as the primary palace of the
Joseon Kingdom by its founder, King Taejo in 1395, the
fourth year of his reign.

16. Palaces in Joseon Dynasty

17. Buddhist temples in Korea

18. Buddhist temples in Korea

19. King’s Tombs
• King Sunjo’s tomb of
Joseon Dynasty
• Taejo Wanggun’s tomb
of Goryeo Dynasty

20. References
• http://my.dreamwiz.com/ikaroc/index2.html
• http://ns.shingu-
c.ac.kr/~nsbaek/kykhtour/palace/firstpage2.html
• http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/pro-
architecture.htm
• http://www.google.com/search?
hl=en&q=Buddhist+temple&btnG=Search
• Note: The most comprehensive website on Asian
architecture is orientalarchitecture.com