Making 'hanok' common

RakKoJae, premium “hanok” guesthouse, was once used by Jindan Hakhoe, Korea’s first historical society. / Courtesy of RakKoJae

Engineer-turned hotelier devoted to upgrading traditional housing

Ahn Young-hwan CEO of RakKoJae

By Park Jin-hai

“Hanok” or Korean traditional houses are being taken out of the history books to provide a new way of living.

For a long time, the traditional architecture was disregarded in favor of apartment complexes that sprung up during the 1980s.

But Koreans are rediscovering the charm of the centuries-old style of buildings and inviting them back into their lives.

Jongno district office in central Seoul opened its first “hanok” library on Thursday. A day earlier, North Gyeongsang Province unveiled the blueprints to build 700 hanok on 250,000 square meters of land by 2027.

Since 2008, the Seoul government as well as a number of other local governments, such as those in Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces, have been creating hanok communities, one of which is the Bukchon Hanok Village.

Nestled within the quaint alleys of Bukchon district is RakKoJae, a “hanok” guesthouse. Its owner Ahn Young-hwan, 57, has been devoting his life to hanok since as early as 1992.

The former computer engineer educated in the United States became a land developer to succeed his family business here. However, once he was asked to demolish an old house and build a modern one in Mapo-gu, central Seoul.

“Chinese calligraphy dating back to the year 1880 was unearthed and the beautiful hanok lines were exposed in front of my eyes when I broke the cement covering in the ceiling. That was a sheer thrill,” he said.

That thrill made him walk down the long path to making the traditional housing more common.

So instead of demolishing the house, he persuaded the owner to rent it to him, so that he could run a traditional Korean restaurant.

Then in 1999, he bought four traditional houses in Gahoe-dong, which were used by Jindan Hakhoe, Korea’s first historical society. Taking two years and half, he remodeled them, maintaining the original state as much as possible but at the same time adopting new ideas to give convenience in style. That became RakKoJae, meaning a “place where one can enjoy the traditions of times past and rest one’s soul.”

“Compared with Chinese architecture that impresses with its massive size and extravagance, and Japan with fineness and symbolism, some foreigners said Korean architecture lacked uniqueness,” Ahn said. “The charm of hanok lies in its naturalness. Instead of making the ground flat and digging ground to make an oversized pond in the yard, hanok sits nicely within nature. We call it ‘borrowing nature.’”

He tells of an incidence where a handful of architects on a forum stayed in his guesthouse and posed questions to him why they felt inexplicable comfort. “When I talk about the curved lines, the nature-friendly colors of clay walls and ‘giwa’ or stone-roof tiles, and the separation distance, then they nod their heads.”

As for the recent boom in hanok, he said he is pleased to see more around, but remains cautious about the way it should be constructed. “ The biggest hurdle is the price,” he said.

“Compared with modern houses, hanok costs at some 12 to 15 million won per pyeong (3.3 square meters). If that is the case, popularizing it could be a tall order.”

To lower the production costs, as well as securing a pool of skilled carpenters who can build the traditional housing, he started a school in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, where RakKoJae’s regional branch with thatched roofs is located in.

“Through the school we started to supply the raw materials in modules. That significantly lowered the costs,” he said. “Currently, the carpenters who finished the course are hired for my project to build the boutique hanok hotel there.”

Asked of the unlikely combination of the traditional housing and hotel, he said “hanok changes with time. Except for the cultural heritage, I believe modern day hanok has to cope with the needs of the current time,” Ahn said.

“Today’s hanok is different from that of Joseon and Goryeo kingdoms. So will future hanok be. The important thing is that it keeps its tradition and essence.”

The hotel Ahn is building adopts the concept of a resort into traditional housing. A total of 10 hanok with giwa roofs and another 10 with thatched roofs on land of 350,000 square meters will be in the form of villas, equipped with traditional under-floor-heating, called "ondol," as well as traditional wooden pavilion whose floor opens to turn into a sauna or a pool. It is planned to open in 2017.

“Hanok stay promotes the image of Korea. I thought that even if it gets more expensive, we should give the best of the best,” he said. “After all, Asian cultures share some similarities. What difference we can give may be in making the experiences pleasures as possible. Relaxing in Hinoki pool would add another good memory to hanok.”

Ahn mentions the reactions of some Korean customers, who say a night’s stay in RakKoJae is way too expensive “for a traditional housing guesthouse.”

“In Japan, people take it for granted a stay in ‘ryokan’ is expensive, since they value tradition. I believe hanok stay should be as much valued. If we don’t respect our culture, who will?

A night’s stay at RakKoJae including dinner and breakfast costs starts from 180,000 won to more than 400,000 won.