condenCITY_59 inhabiting the gap




Seongbuk-gu in Seoul extends outside the northern most ancient city walls. It is an amalgamation of old and new with preservation and conversion of 1930's urban Hanok's (traditional Korean houses) alongside new villas and non-descipt commercial storefronts that can be found throughout Seoul. Galleries, museums and creatively inspired businesses dot the cityscape here. 

As in many of Seoul's older districts there is a willingness to inhabit the uninhabitable- or so it would seem. Drainage-way turned neighborhood with residences and small cafes filling what appears to be a once natural water way. Recent summer and early fall monsoons brought drenching deluges to the region this year and one must wonder the ability of such unplanned areas to withstand the tendencies of water to flow to the lowest geographical point. Somehow drainage whether sufficient or not  has been mitigated allowing the occupation of this urban gap.


   

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