Inspired by the Past

The Hwangryongsa temple, a 9-story pagoda, was built in 645 AD by Silla (one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea), but was demolished in 1238 during the Mongol invasion of Korea.

That building itself would already be worth a post on this blog, but what if you'd want to pay architectural tribute to this building? What if you'd like to make a contemporary statement out of it? Of course, the sheer reconstruction of it would make no sense. It's faking the past, and not doing something that is also connected to the present.


So, the Gyeongyu Tower makes complete sense, doesn't it? The contours of the Hwangryongsa temple pagoda have been carved out of a solid shape, in order to create this building. It shows the historic form in a contemporary way. Mission achieved, I would say. The building is great in it's weirdness, it's so kitchy that I'm really loving it for it's boldness. It's all that's good and evil at the same time, architectonically speaking.