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Western Gardeners’ Guide to the Essence of Korean Traditional Gardens Korean gardens strive to be in harmony with nature and to encourage the quiet contemplation of the natural world. They are intentionally humble in their conception and very different from Japanese and Chinese gardens. Korean gardens deserve to be more widely appreciated in the West as a separate, distinctive, venerable and continuing garden tradition, capable of wide appeal if better known. They are the unknown treasures among the world’s gardening traditions. The survival and continuous restoration of old Korean gardens demonstrate the cultural resilience and tenacity of the Korean people despite their tumultuous history. This book introduces, describes and explains traditional Korean gardens to Western readers. It contains more than one hundred photos and maps and details of 20 notable gardens. Pre-publication reviews The ‘foot’ and the ‘mind’ must be put to use to understand the genuine aesthetics of the Korean garden. The author has spared no foot-work nor mindful deliberation to successfully deliver the essence of the Korean garden in this book. I do not doubt that this book will guide those who wish to discover the true beauty of the Korean garden: its harmony with nature, reflection of the inner world, and yearning toward the outside world. Professor Sung Jong-sang, Department of Landscape Architecture, Dean Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University This is an exquisitely written reference book concerning the traditional gardens and landscapes in South Korea. Horticulturists in western gardens today often unknowingly use plants and trees native to Korea, which have long been cultivated in Korean gardens. This book will entice any keen gardener or plantsman to make a visit to see these traditional gardens that are so clearly described in this wonderful book. Tony Kirkham, Head of the Arboretum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England The traditional gardens of Korea are one of the country’s best-kept secrets. Few visitors even realize what beauties exist. That is largely because Korean gardens are far less formal and ornamental and much closer to nature than the famed gardens of Japan and China. This book offers readers a key, which opens the door to Korean gardens in all their delicate beauty. It will guide those who wish to discover the true beauty of the Korean garden: its harmony with nature, reflection on the inner-world, and yearning toward the outside world. Brother Anthony of Taize (An Son-jae), President of the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea This beautiful book breaks new ground, illuminating the history and richness of Korean gardens for English-speakers. The author has a professional knowledge of horticulture, and gives a clear explanation of unique Korean attitudes to garden-making and nature … The author delivers lively observations concerning the complex and sophisticated design of traditional Korean gardens and rightly admires the determination of Koreans to reconstruct them, after repeated destruction. Stuart Read, National Management Committee, Australian Garden History Society

Explores the history of Korea's gardens, one of the less discussed art forms, and the connections between Korean literati and philosophers and the gardens they created. This book shows how the gardens of Korea were distinctive, reflecting the beliefs and values of the Korean scholars who designed them and enjoyed them.

Thirteen writers collaborated to guide readers on a journey through Korean Traditional Landscape Architecture to highlight the excellence of this Korean cultural heritage as well as the traditional Korean aesthetic and worldview. Of note, there is also a glossary section that helps to explain basic concepts and principles, technical terms, and various proper nouns for general readers as well as those with an in-depth interest in the subject.

With over 500 stunning photographs, this design book reveals the relatively unknown, unique aesthetics of Korea. Korea Style reveals the central elements of Korean design: simplicity, moderation, constraint, and a deep respect for all things natural. Despite the filtering of Japanese and Western design ideas into Korea over the millennia, the peninsula has maintained its own identity and is gaining recognition for its own particular "style." Spatial, spiritual and material qualities are reflected in the pure beauty of its architectural design, while classic objects that immediately distinguish themselves as being uniquely Korean are used with distinctive flair in interior design and decoration. Korea Style is the first book devoted to the country's architecture and interior design--featuring twenty-two exceptional homes, studios, and public and heritage buildings. They range from vernacular to cutting-edge creations and are a celebration of Korea's culture, natural landscape, arts and crafts, and architectural history juxtaposed with a drive towards invention, experimentation and individuality.

This book offers an introduction to Korea's abundant and unique architectural past and present, combining explanations of the principles behind Korean architecture with introductions to some of the country's finest buildings and structures. It explains some of the ideologies and perspectives that form the foundation of Korean architectural tradition and outlines the history of Korean architecture, from the first architectural traces of dugouts and lean-tos to the increasingly sophisticated wooden frames and technologies. It offers a brief introduction to the basic elements, construction process, structural anatomy, and materials used in building a Korean traditional architecture. The book also highlights ten of Korea's best-known and most significant traditional buildings, ranging from Buddhist temples to royal palaces, Confucian royal shrines, landscaped literati gardens to "Enlightenment"-era fortresses. Korea's early modern architecture—a period from the colonial domination by Japan into the mid-20th century—is also examined.

Political prisoner Hyun Woo is freed after eighteen years to find no trace of the world he knew. The friends with whom he shared utopianist dreams are gone. His Seoul is unrecognizably transformed and aggressively modernized. Yoon Hee, the woman he loved, died three years ago. A broken man, he drifts toward a small house in Kalmoe, where he and Yoon Hee once stole a few fleeting months of happiness while fleeing the authorities. In the company of her diaries, he relives and reviews his life, trying to find meaning in the revolutionary struggle that consumed their youth—a youth of great energy and optimism, victim to implacable history. Hyun Woo weighs the worth of his own life, spent in prison, and that of the strong-willed artist Yoon Hee, whose involvement in rebel groups took her to Berlin and the fall of the wall. With great poignancy, Hwang Sok-yong grapples with the immortal questions—the endurance of love, the price of a commitment to causes—while depicting a generation that sacrificed youth, liberty, and often life, for the dream of a better tomorrow.