Tsumiki no hako

I've written before about my great love of Korean apartment building architecture, but it seems that the Government isn't so keen on the Soviet-chic image which so much of the Korean landscape features, and have resolved to do something about it.

So from March next year, developers will no longer be permitted to build row-upon-row of identical characterless boxes, but will instead have to try working with different shapes for a change, as well as varying the heights of the buildings within the concrete jungles which are replacing former green landscapes. Unfortunately, laudable though this new directive is it only applies to Seoul - so certain parts of Busan are still destined to look like Pyongyang for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps though, it doesn't matter so much. Most of the new apartment block developments I've seen here seem to be more individually designed, and that's market forces for you - people these days don't want to live in an apartment block that looks the same as all the others around it. Apart from anything else, how are you supposed to find your building after a night of heavy soju consumption?

Korean tags: 아파트, 건물