Seoul from above

The River Han and the Namsan Mountain are two unmissable landmarks of Seoul from above and (I am told) at street level too. Concrete highways linking the north and south of Seoul have resulted in endless leftover spaces which I’m looking forward to exploring. The group were shown a clip of The Host which is a film set in Seoul with lots of scenes set near, in, and under these crossings. Worth a watch. 

I also recently met with a friend who grew up in Korea but now lives in London. When discussing my project proposal with him, he said it might be difficult to find evidence of political manifestation everywhere but certain buildings have clear examples. The first example he gave was the Royal Palace built by the Koreans with an important view along the main axis of the city centre with a view to the Namsan Mountain (why this is so significant is still unclear to me). When the Japanese invaded, they blocked this view by building a new structure – two fingers up to the Koreans? This seems like an ideal place to start…