Seoul Bukchon — Hanok Roofscape

Description

Bukchon Hanok Village preserves approximately 900 traditional Korean hanok houses on the hillside between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces in central Seoul — one of the few surviving examples of traditional Korean residential architecture within a major contemporary Asian city. The roofscape photograph — made from an elevated position that shows the interlocking curved tile roof geometry across the hillside — is the visual signature of the neighbourhood, communicating the hanok tradition’s distinctive curved eave profiles and the density of preserved traditional buildings within sight of the modern CBD. This image was made from the upper Bukchon Road viewpoint at 7am before the tourist photograph crowds arrive at the view’s location, the curved grey tile roofs descending the hillside with the Lotte Tower and the financial district visible 2km behind the hanok boundary. Shot on a 70-200mm zoom at f/8 in the soft morning light of an overcast October dawn.