Reusing the old in public space: The case of Seoul's City hall

Abstract

This paper discusses the history of Seoul's old city hall and the architecture of the adjacent new city hall completed in 2012. From the beginning, the construction of a new city hall was an enterprise fraught with controversy, as it involved the issue of preserving the old city hall that was constructed during the Japanese colonial period. Many designs for the new city hall, which was to be built behind the older structure, had been rejected by the city government and the Cultural Heritage Association. Even after the fnal design was chosen, procedural ambiguities surrounding the execution of the project invited criticisms from various fields, including architects and historians. This study looks at how public architecture reflects changing notions of urbanity and civic space. By examining architectural changes introduced in the mid-1920s and the contemporary design of the new city hall, this paper shows that a commonality exists between the two buildings with radically different architectural styles. The design of old city hall, meant to increase public accessibility, was a result of situated complexities, just as the design of the new city hall is.