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| From Inwangsan to Namsan: Apatu, city, mountains |
A series of layers revealed themselves as I made my towards the mountain. Leaving a bustling shopping street, and walking through an older residential area, I could see the apatu looming behind. Past several retaining walls (they really are everywhere), it was a relief walking up the steep path towards a brightly decorated gateway. Behind is hidden a modest village nestled in the hillside of Inwangsan. Its imperfections, steep jagged lanes, terrible and beautiful buildings, and temples, just feel like they’re meant to be here.
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| In the village, looking down a steep slope (sketch and photo) |
Standing at the back of the village, you can look back over the rooftops towards the modern blocks and mountains beyond. Walking further up around the mountain, past the shrines and the men and woman reciting verses in front of the statues, a true inhabitation of the landscape can be understood.
Regardless of religious beliefs, there is a soul to this place. It is one of the most significant sacred mountains in Seoul, serving as the most active center of Shamanism and folk-religious traditions. Guksadang, the most famous shamanist shrine is located here. The shrine was originally built on the Namsan but in 1925 Guksadang was demolished by the Japanese so Korean Shamanists secretly rebuilt it on Inwangsan In the 1970s the authorities designated the entire cluster of Shamanic shrines here and a single Buddhist temple called Inwangsa with its own single one pillar entrance gate and a central bell in a pavilion.
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| Sketch plans: Plan 01 (above) Plan 00 (below), photo of external stair |
Lastly, this is a building I came across which begins to use the steep topography in a different way; turning roof into floorplate.
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