Suncheon’s Old Downtown Filled with Absences: Suncheon Art Platform : The Hidden Cloister

SPACE August 2023 (No. 669) 

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Typical public projects planned in the old downtown are simple; they are either planning for a cultural complex or public offices which act as an anchoring facility using public finance, or the planning of residential facilities in order to increase a settled population, or, in rare cases, the introduction of commercial programmes in conjunction with private capital. In addition to all this, ‘historical restoration’ is often central to Korean cities’ urban regeneration. As most of Korea’s history of urbanisation took place during the Japanese colonial period, searching for and restoring traces of the Joseon Dynasty prior to the colonial period is a good justification for public projects. Suncheon Art Platform : The Hidden Cloister (hereinafter Hidden Cloister), which can be largely understood as a restoration project, was also the purpose of regenerating Suncheon’s old downtown district. The area around the Hidden Cloister, adjacent to the former Seungjugun Office which naturally deteriorated after Seungju-gun was incorporated into Suncheon-si in 1995. The Hidden Cloister heals the tender urban tissues of the old downtown through an original method. 

The Homeworks in a New Urban Space 

The Hidden Cloister is a particular type of space that is rarely encountered in the cities of Korea and possesses two prominent characteristics: one is that it faces the Okcheon Stream and the other is that it features a sunken plaza. The foremost values privileged in this project were the connection between the plaza and the connection to peripheral reaches of the old downtown. As the plaza was adjacent to the Okcheon Stream, it was subject to a level difference in design due to the flood risk. However, this is advantageous as it forms a direct connection through the stream, along with upper levels leveled to the central market and the city. Finally, one more level down from the plaza level leads directly to the underground shopping centre, which has been the centre of local commerce since 1990. In the end, perhaps the biggest challenge faced by the new plaza, after dismantling the organs of the old downtown, was to connect the artificial organs to the surrounding blood vessels without any mistakes, as if it had always stood and thrived in this spot. As mentioned above, Hidden Cloister located on the site of the Suncheonbueupseong Fortress might have taken a very different shape. A fortress, or a stream, has historically been a means of separating boundaries, not forging connection. Since the boundaries of the fortress were broken down with the advancement of urbanisation during the Japanese occupation, the character of the plaza can vary greatly depending on the focus of the historical restoration. The completion of the plan for the Hidden Cloister was possible because it is based on the present and future, and not on a certain point in history. Despite the fact that it was the site of a city fortress and historical relics had to be excavated, the Hidden Cloister has added another layer to the old downtown by opening up an urban space that serves as a connection between the natural environment and the surrounding urban fabric. It is a space in which the diverse histories of Suncheon’s long settled citizens have accumulated. This is also reflected in the appearance of the Sinyeonjaru Pavilion, which reinterprets the Yeonjaru Pavilion at the southern gate of the Suncheonbueupseong Fortress. The Sinyeonjaru Pavilion simply as a functional interpretation of ru: a shelter that is raised from the ground to allow access to the lower part of the ru and provides a viewpoint from its upper reaches. Rather than expressing sorrow over the disappearance of the old downtown, there is a glimmer of hope here for the future of an revitalised old downtown. 

Experiencing Physical Space 

Camillo Sitte emphasised the importance of an ‘enclosure’ of plazas in his writing City Building According to Artistic Principles (1889). This also aligns with Paul Zucker’s typology of plazas: the ‘closed square’. The Hidden Cloister proposes an enclosed square experience in two directions: one is the two pavilions on three sides of the plaza and the former Seungju-gun Office; the other is the sunken form and the surrounding corridor. The Hidden Cloister has been designed so that there would be a direct entry from the Okcheon Stream and as a result it is in a sunken plaza form. The corridor around the plaza, the upper pavilion, and the former Seungju-gun Office are the foreground elements that create an enveloping experience when viewed from the plaza level, while the central market and the surrounding urban fabric similarly and physically provide this enveloping experience from the rear view. The scale of the pavilion or the former Seungjugun Office, which may seem overbearing at the plaza level, is counterbalanced by the horizontal elements of the corridor. The corridor and pavilion are modules of a same rhythm, creating a connection between them. Considering many of the so-called, ʻplazas’ in our country, most are actually external spaces that exist as a subset of buildings. This is especially true in the cases of public facilities, which is closer to a concept of a large madang. This is perhaps not surprising in the context of Korean urban organisation, where a plaza or plaza culture has never existed, and that is why it is often difficult to fully understand Korean urban organisation through the nollimap or figure / ground methodology used to study urban organisation. A plaza is only valuable if it exists in a presence-absence relationship with its surrounding buildings, and in many cases the absence exists only as an empty area and is not defined by presence, which is why experience of our plazas is not very pleasant. Yet the Hidden Cloister is an urban space that has been relieved of some of the density faced by the old downtown (in terms of the building to land ratio), therefore a relationship of presence and absence naturally formed with the experience further enriched by taking the form of a sunken space. 

Timespan of a City 

It is true that the Hidden Cloister has provided a good physical space in Suncheon’s old downtown, but whether it is an exemplary plaza and loved by its citizens is another question. As with all public spaces, it takes time for citizens to naturally engage. While it is possible to host a variety of public events, which could provide an immediate surge in usage and foot traffic, it is unlikely to exhibit the full potential of the Hidden Cloister. There are various indoor spaces within the Hidden Cloister on the level that connect to the Okcheon Stream. Surrounding this is the central market and underground shopping centre, the most vibrant parts of the old downtown. In addition, the Okcheon Stream connects to the Dongchoen Stream from Suncheon, and going a bit further is a 20-minute bike ride to the Suncheon Bay area. By using the infrastructure around the Hidden Cloister, the plan for the Hidden Cloister will change the nearby old downtown, and change to the city will create a virtuous cycle that will in turn dynamise the Hidden Cloister. In this aspect, the Hidden Cloister is a project which needs to be waited upon with the longevity of a city. The operation has been well performed. Now it is time to wait for the organs to adjust to their original body.  

You can see more information on the SPACE No. 669 (August 2023).​ ​

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