The modern houses as architectural assets are really to notify life styles and documents in the old days. But modern houses as Korean cultural properties(what is called 'modern houses' afterwards) maynot get ready to receive contemporary life style pattern due to functional difficulties, small sized than any other buildings, and limits in structure and conversion. For that reason they are constantly used as the parts and whole of existential function, not a few unused and left alone.
This study is aimed to see what value do the houses of recent times, designated as cultural properties, has as cultural heritages and what status they have in the history of housing, so that we can present the way how they can be used in a sustained manner. The houses of recent times are valuable cultural properties which show how the Korean traditional houses have developed to modern ones. Such recent houses are valuable cultural properties because they show how Koreans lived in the recent times. So, through this study, we aimed to find the conservative value of those cultural properties and to seek how the people of modern ages can live in them in a modern way. Details are as follows:
Firstly, we visited 87 recent houses, of a total of 137 such houses, that are designated and listed as recent modern cultural heritages and are distributed nationwide, in order to see how the houses of recent times have been preserved and how they have been altered, so as to classify them into different types and analyze problems of each type.
Secondly, we analyzed both the conserved houses and the changed and altered ones. By looking at both cases, either having been used for their original housing purposes or having been altered for exhibition purposes like to be used as memorial halls or museums, we aimed to find what parts of such houses can be changed or altered to make them appropriate for the modern lives. Since the Korean traditional houses of recent times present the most parts to be changed or altered, to arrive at the objective finding, we surveyed the actual working level people in the cultural properties related industry by using a questionnaire consisting of 6 questions(①connection and enlarging of rooms, ②installation of storage space, ③standup kitchen and its alteration, ④alteration and installation of toilet, ⑤installation of utility room, ⑥insulations and ventilation).
Thirdly, we aimed to propose how to continue preserving the modern houses designated as cultural properties and, at the same time, using them, by analyzing the filled-in questionnaires, examining the cases of altering and studying the instructions and the human dimension in the detailed construction plan. We propose two preservative use of the recent time modern houses; the sustained use for the original use and the altered use for a different purpose. After analyzing cases and checking the questionnaires, regarding the altered use for the exhibition purpose, we will propose methods per each space element, from preservation to alteration. Regarding the sustained use for the original use, we are going to propose how to preserve the space, scale and decorative aspects of houses.
The guidelines for the sustainable use of modern Korean traditional house across spatial elements are as follows:
1) The room is the space for sleeping activity among the major daily activities. The previous 8~9 Ja (approx. 2.42m ~ 2.72m) of space is too narrow for the extended family in modern times so that it can be either extended to the wall closet, back room or the attached quadrangular aisle or utilize the next room connected to it. Here, the parts to check the previous structures for future restoration of the archetype(column, location of wall, door frame, etc) should be preserved as much as possible.
2) Storage space becomes short due to the functional changes of the previous spaces for storage such as wall closet and back room by room extension. Hence, the storage space should be installed at the lateral side and the back side in a way that it can let the eaves line out by protruding the wall only behind the eaves line(approximately 60cm).
3) As for the kitchen, it is a convenient way for the traffic line to match the kitchen's floor level with the indoor level and to build the kitchen as a stand-up style.
4) The restroom will be built as a flush-toilet type using the residual space in the backside of the main building
5) For the minimal change in the facade to solve the winter heat insulation problem, an outer storm door with Korean paper attached on should be installed.
6) The boiler room which has the new function arising from the changes in heating method is sometimes located inside the kitchen or installed in a separate outside small building. However, it will be built adjacent to the kitchen using the lateral side or back side of the house.
As the guideline for the change of exhibition use of modern house, the change of use for the modern Korean traditional house are as follows:
1) The planning for the exhibition circulation should adopt static ition rather than dynamic ition, which is more appropriate for the Korean traditional house. In the composition of the exhibition space should, low exhibition items should be adopted while the composition also has to take the advantages of the decorative elements in the Korean traditional house such as the in-and-outside windows and doors as well as the wall.
2) The exhibition method should adopt the exhibition of life style to reproduce the historic everyday life figures at the time when the Korean house was used as a residential house focusing on the original use as a living space rather than the exhibition of materials and articles. This will play the role to connect the past functions to the modern functions.
As for the change of use of the missionary house into a museum,
1) The planning for circulation should consider the functions and circulation at the time when it was used as a residential house. But, a considerable amount of confusion in circulation is expected due to the many openings characteristic to the house, so that the theme of the exhibition according to the regular route should be selected. To preserve the in-and-outside windows and doors, the exhibition items should be selected considering the height of the window sill.
2) The exhibition method should consider the size and the number of the exhibition items proportional to the distance from the gallery according to the visual plan because the house is relatively small in its size. In addition, the method to exhibit two or less items in one room should be adopted.