1961. 3. Completion
1998. 12. The estate in Songwol-dong is reassigned to the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and subsequently used as an annex office following the relocation of the Korea Meteorological Administration
2001. 3. SMG abandoned all plans for demolition in order to construct a new building
2005. Demolition
2008. 5. SMG request the Cultural Heritage Administration to review the project as a cultural heritage of early modern times ▶
2014. 2. Only the historic meteorological station (1932 – 1939) on the estate is appointed as a registered cultural heritage (No. 585)
2016. 6. SMG lists the project following a request for cooperation to preserve modern and contemporary architectural heritage ▶▶
▶ ‘Ewha Womans University Auditorium – Namsan Public Library’ designated as a registered cultural heritage
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has requested 100 modern architectural projects to be designated as a registered cultural heritage
SMG has cited the SPACE Group of Korea Building, the former Korea Central Meteorological Office, the Freedom Center and the UNESCO Building as registered cultural heritage. It recently requested the Cultural Heritage Administration to consider 100 modern architectural projects rated highly for conservation and as those listed as modern cultural heritage from the end of the 19th century to the 1960s. [...] Modern architectural works promoted as registered cultural heritage by the municipality are mostly architectural projects more than 50 years old. These partially included architectural works from the 1960s valued in terms of history or architectural history […] The Korea Central Meteorological Office building (1959) in Songwol-dong, Jongno-gu, which is currently used as an annexe office by SMG, is held very highly over the course of architectural history due to its outer façade, which is formed as if it is an overlapping hexagonal glass box. (The Dong-A Ilbo, 21 May 2008)
▶▶ Seoul Metropolitan Government establishes a conservation plan without realising that the building has been demolished
After acquiring the estate of the Korea Meteorological Administration, Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) pursued the construction of diverse new projects, such as concert hall, media lab, fire department building, yet faced difficulties when these plans were abandoned. Then, in 2005, the Korea Central Meteorological Office was demolished and a parking lot was built in its place. However, the department managing cultural heritage at the SMG did not recognise this fact and requested the Cultural Heritage Administration to consider the project in 2008. The Korea Central Meteorological Office appeared 27th on a list of ‘100 modern and contemporary architecture works in Seoul’ as part of a ‘request for cooperation to preserve the key modern and contemporary architectural projects in the Seoul’ sent by the History & Cultural Heritage Division, Culture Headquarters, SMG to the Cultural Department of each district on the 16th of June, 2016. (Rearragement based on the press releases from SMG and media articles)