Journal of the Korean Housing Association ISSN:2234-3571(Print) 2234-2257(Online) 한국주거학회논문집

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of applying the planning characteristics of Neowa houses to contemporary residential structures. Contrary to the popular assumption that traditional Korean houses have decentralized plans, local building traditions observed in Neowa houses show that the diversity among hanoks allows the incorporation of traditional spatial organization into the contemporary residences. By analyzing the spatial organization of Neowa houses, three advantageous planning characteristics were found. First, the presence of indoor wooden floors (maru or daechung) as well as outdoor wooden floors in Neowa houses is practical for Korea’s weather marked by humid summers and icy winters. Secondly, the internal orientation of space in Neowa houses is more appropriate in the contemporary context of a highly urbanized society emphasizing family privacy. Thirdly, the flexibility and interchangeability of interior elements can be applied to improve efficiency. By applying the aforementioned characteristics, this study suggests ways to adopt traditional features to improve contemporary residences.