[Insight & Opinion] Apartments That Consider Urban Landscapes Are Needed

[Asia Economy] Since 2019, I have come to Korea after a long time, but one thing remains unchanged: the popularity of apartments. This popularity seems to show no signs of fading. Some things have changed. Thanks to the sharply increased number of high-rise apartments and officetels, the skyline of major cities has become astonishingly tall. Whether in Seoul or other cities, you encounter apartments that seem to stand right in front of you. Seeing them so often makes me think a lot. Why do they all look the same?

Characterless and bleak apartments are not unique to Korea. Nevertheless, there is a strong sense of regret. While the introduction of new technologies has maximized convenience, aesthetic development is truly minimal. When I recently visited a newly occupied apartment complex, the buildings were tall and the spacing between the buildings was so narrow that it felt suffocating just to look at them. It even felt frightening, as if it were a return of authoritarian architecture from the times of Hitler in Germany or Stalin’s dictatorship in the Soviet Union.

Architecture, as a comprehensive art, involves much more subjectivity than absolute standards, but social consensus inevitably forms. However, the perspective on architecture does not only look at the exterior. The layout of the interior space and the adoption of new technologies sometimes influence popularity even more than aesthetics. Nowadays, the floor plans of apartments are astonishing, and the speed of adopting cutting-edge technology is hard to keep up with. Seeing that these high-rise apartments, which look frighteningly uniform and authoritarian from the outside, continue to be popular suggests that consumer satisfaction is high at that point.

So, does that mean apartments have done all they need to do? I recently visited Busan. Coming out of a subway station, a huge fence surrounding a massive apartment complex blocked the way right in front of me. My destination was beyond that fence. Since going straight was impossible, I had to walk a long way around the fence. The inconvenience I felt was not just about having to take a detour instead of going straight. The bigger problem was that the apartment complex reduced public space. Because the apartment privatized the public alley that could have been used to go straight from the subway station, the space for people outside the apartment has decreased accordingly.

An apartment complex is a private space created by the aggregation of individual private properties. However, considering that it affects the cityscape and absorbs public space, it cannot be regarded as a completely private space. Building-related laws and regulations already recognize and reflect this aspect. There are cases where sidewalks are installed inside apartments and green spaces are opened to the public. But that is not satisfactory. While apartments are private property, there is a need to go further in acknowledging their public nature and actively expanding that scope. The consideration apartments give to the cityscape and public space is still insufficient.

Then what should be done? Suggesting lowering building heights and widening the spacing between apartment buildings would immediately lead to losses, making it almost impossible to gain social consensus. It only causes noise and does not help solve the problem.

There is a solution. Instead of laws and regulations, skilled architects and landscape architects should join hands to build apartments that pay special attention to the cityscape. Of course, they must embrace the concept of public space. If they create truly beautiful apartments in the real sense, and citizens agree that the cityscape can become more beautiful as a result, this bleak city will change rapidly. If that happens, it will be enjoyable for us who see it, and we can pass on a well-designed cityscape to future generations. Could there be anything better than that?

Robert Pauzer, Former Professor at Seoul National University

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.