Veil, fluid, invisible, carved, banal |
- disregard the traditional Korean relationship to landscape, where views and connection to landscape are prioritised. They form a veil between landscape and city.
- run counter to more formal systems, and are allied to landscape because although they alter the topography, they follow the contours of the natural landscape. They create not just a physical condition but also a social condition for the city. They create a fluidity and anarchic quality, they are continuous. They guide and frame. Their material qualities and scale transform traditional small narrow winding streets into expansive repetitive spaces. They are not a new phenomenon but the city’s demands are changing the nature of the walls.
- are invisible (blind) yet present, important. The surfaces seem ignored, uncelebrated, but their physical scale is apparent. Older walls are more usually integrated into buildings resulting in much richer surfaces. Each wall has its own character form by their material, structure and context.
- alter topography (landscript), hiding the true strata of land. This is lasting. The pressure of the earth is carved, excavated and folded by the walls.
- are banal and essential, a piece of city infrastructure. They offer a level of permanence which is more akin to landscape than the fast-changing (built) city. City uses may change, but the pattern of the walls will remain imprinted on the urban fabric.