Ibike Korea People-to-People Program
Photo essay:
Gangnam
Walking Tour
We stopped for breakfast to fuel the engines. The typical restaurants that serve breakfast generally have tables for two or four. It arrangement seems to work fine because I can't recall ever seeing a Korean group of more than four meeting for breakfast. Lunches and dinners are much more likely to be large groups.
Outside
of the oldest parts of Seoul the streetscape is dominated by wide boulevards and
International-style architecture. After
the WWII, much of the the industrial world, embraced International style
architecture. It embraces the philosophy that "less is more." Beauty was to be
the result of the structure and form of the building, dependent on the
proportions of the structural steel grid and the curtain wall that covered it.
Buildings should be functional and geometric. Characteristics are tall slender
buildings, glass and aluminum shells. There is no delineation of base, shaft and
capital.
International-style
architecture is used for commercial and residential buildings alike.
Fortunately, generally on the non-arterial side of the residential buildings
some green space is provide. These generally aren't full fledged parks
capable of accommodation the recreational needs of the adjacent population but
they do provide a softer edge and may contain a walking path and bench for
meditation.
If
"less is more" inspired the international style, "less is a bore" became the
mantra of some architects after the 1980's -- labeled post-modern
Post-modern didn't start to seep into Seoul's streetscape until much later.
Even now projects that try to twist, contort and distort the box are rare, but
when they do they tend to be very eye catching. They tend not to deviate
from the International form as some post-modern
architecture, but they are a start at creativity.
Alas, the street
wall of a long many of the boulevards is used for commercial retail space.
It rarely looks much different from what you might see in Los Angeles, London or
Paris. In fact, many of the stores are the same brands that you will see
in Los Angeles, London and Paris.
Gangnam
seems to be a popular location for street photography. One afternoon we
came across a video crew who seemed to be filming a blond making some kind of
travel film and a couple of photographers working with models on the sidewalk
doing fashion shoots. The latter is no so surprising because high end fashion is
one of the things that Gangnam is know for -- the other is body image cosmetic
surgery.
A
very recognizable list of the world's high-end fashion designers and most of
Koreas homegrown top designers, have a presence in Gangnam. A sample include
Versace, Michael Kors, Gucci, Prada, Givenchy, Hermes, Christian Dior, Mark
Jacobs, Brunello Cucinelli, Phillip Lim, 
As
one might expect, Gangnam has a lot of specialty restaurants. One genre is "jeon"
restaurants. Jeon is someplace in the family of pizzas or pancakes.
They
are fried and contain vegetables, seafood or meat. For Koreans jeon is a
side dish that goes along with drinking sochu (sake).
Westerners can make a meal out of jeon.In contrast to the haut culture of Gangnam, you can also find some economical street food vendors.
A
few blocks away, in
the center of the Gangnam district's high-rise buildings, are the Seonjeongneung Royal Tombs. King Seongjong
(r 1469-94), his second queen, Jeonghyeon-wanghu, and King Jungjong (r 1506-44)
are buried here. King Seongjong ascended the throne at the age of 13. He is
remembered for his work ethic and love of poetry. In 1485 he promulgated the
Grand Code of State Administration, whose compilation had begun in the reign of
King Sejo. He also completed the Expanded National Code in 1492, perfecting the
laws and institutions of the state. He stabilized the authority of the throne by
engaging the neo-Confucian literati to check the meritorious elites who wielded
immense power at the time.
Bongeunsa was built in 794
south, across the river from old Seoul. The temple may have included up to
18 temples/shrines when it was destroyed by fire in 1939. Key shrine currently
are: Daewungjeon (main), Bupwangru, Shimgeundang, Seonbuldang, Jijangjeon,
Yeonsanjeon, Bukgeukgojeon, Yeonggak, Pan jeon, Bowudang The temple groups
are now totally engulfed by an
urban environment, but still is a refuge of tranquility.
The dominant
statue is Mireukdaebul (Buddha of the Future State). It is the largest Buddha in Korea. The statue symbolizes hope for Maitreya to arrive and save all of
man kind. Bongeunsa offer temple stay programs, which provide relaxation
and a chance to experience the culture through experiencing the daily life of a
monk.
Strolling after dark we
came upon this fancy bike station. Gangnam is not a part of Seoul with a lot of
bicycling, but there must be some. There are a couple of bike shops in Gangnam.
They tend to be high-end, serving those going out of the city for road riding or
mountain biking.Lofting above anything for miles around it is the tallest building in Seoul and Korea. It is south of the river, to the east of Gangnam.
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