Houses In Korea I Fell In Love With, Part 3

Actually I'm not crazy about the house featured in Secret Garden ( starring Ha Jiwon and Hyun Bin) - it's too white, too Zen, too contemporary for my old-fashioned tastes.  The exterior is another story, though. Loved the wooden walkway leading to the apron overlooking the small pond outside the house. The eulalia and maple trees plus the ceiling-to-wall glass windows allow for wonderful vistas which can be enjoyed throughout the seasons.

It's not going to be easy for K-drama fans to make a pilgrimage to the Maiim Vision Village which is the shooting location for this hugely popular dramatic comedy about role reversals. Getting to the Maiim Vision Village which was also the location for some scenes from  other K-dramas like "Winter Sonata" and  "Star's Lover" isn't really the problem. See the map below.

The tricky part is gaining admission onto the grounds which cover 330,000 square meters in Yeoju in Gyeonggi-do as it's  not open to the public. Unless you are a member of the press or better still, an employee who is supposed to undergo training under Maiim Group, a company selling cosmetics and health food products, your chances of getting close-up snapshots of the grounds and buildings are as slim as Ha Jiwon's character gaining approval from her snobbish mother-in-law. Otherwise, you may be lucky enough to explore its dorms, community area and sports facilities and lovely gardens. About ten years ago, it existed as a youth hostel but was converted into a training centre when the land was purchased by Maiim Group.

That being the case, you may as well be an armchair traveller and explore the place via cyberspace. One of the most significant buildings here is the Mud and Stone House. The architect, Bae Dae-yong, was responsible for this hybrid of contrasting textures which featured a stone section as a working space on the upper part of a hill and the "mud" section on the lower slope inteded as guest rooms.

Bae remarks: "Beauty is nothing but something that is hidden in nature, being revealed accidentally. It can be declared that there is no essential beauty not rooted in nature. For beauty belongs to nature. Beauty is not created but discovered, and we should approach the nature as near as possible if we want to discover it, and we men cannot create such a beauty but can only make it revealed." His ideas about how design can harmonise with nature can be found in his book, "Removing, and Becoming Transparent”.

Here are some examples of Bae's work.

 

My favourite room is probably the library - see above right. The suspended window on one end  of the room looks like a painting in itself while the rock is a pretty large token of Nature making its presence felt in this airy, ample interior.

Here's another instance of Bae's work - this time for a wealthy couple in Seoul. The ceramic tableware, stone lantern and bamboo are the traditional touches to this otherwise very Western design.

See also:

Houses In Korea I Fell In Love With, Part 1

Houses In Korea I Fell in Love With, Part 2


sources:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/CU/CU_EN_8_5_1_68.jsp
http://www.soompi.com/news/secret-garden-press-conference-features-house-and-actors
http://www.soompi.com/content/type/2/0/3/9995
http://www.soompi.com/image/335575
http://www.bnadesign.co.kr/home/project.bna?proc=view&cateNo=100000011&index=128&lang=E#
http://www.bnadesign.co.kr/home/design.bna?lang=E
http://www.kdb.co.kr/screen/jsp/IHIre/down/new/2011.02-16.pdf
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/homes/archive/pavlik_article_112002
http://www.maiim.com/eng/01_Story/03_Company_Brief.html?pageNum=1&subNum=3&ssubNum=1

Bae Yong-joon's Other Hats

Looks like Hallyu actor  of Winter Sonata fame, Bae Yong-joon can add "author and photographer" to his CV. It's been awhile since his fans  ( which are mostly outside Korea) have seen him on the small or big screens as he was busy working on a book on his travels around Korea.

What prompted him to do this book project?

"I decided to write the book because of an embarrassing moment when I was unable to respond promptly when asked to name great places to visit in Korea at a press conference in Japan," he said in one interview. "I felt bad that my fans from abroad spent their entire time watching me shoot films and then went back to their countries. I hope this book can help them understand Korean culture and sentiment."

Apparently the book was popular because it was perceived as "a book to give a foreign friend"  and apparently, many foreigners were impressed and felt they had gained a deeper understanding of the country.... Unlike other celebrity books it is a great guide to Korean culture, and the firm expects a positive reception from readers of all ages."

Call me cynical or says it's sour grapes and I may incur the wrath of BYJ fans but I gotta say the man's quite savvy in getting the attention of KTO. I've not seen the book and I'm curious about who did the translation into English.


Apparently he plans to do more books. He said, "Writing has a unique charm. I would like to write books that introduce places worth visiting in Korea and gourmet restaurants in the future."

If that is indeed the case, why then did he also say this?

"If I get another job in later life, I would like to be a farmer. It would be nice to plant something, cultivate the fruit and give the healthy product to someone."

Perhaps he'll write a book on farming as well.

sources:
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/12/04/2010120400228.html
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/10/28/2010102800954.html
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/09/09/2010090900287.html
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/09/23/2009092300362.html