Namsan Foothill Staircases

A canopy of worn, corrugated metal sheets shelters the narrow, winding alleys of Huam Traditional Market. It started as a spontaneous gathering of street vendors in the nineteen sixties to serve the local neighborhood as residents moved…

The Daedo Bathhouse in Huam-dong is marked by a weathered, orange-tiled exterior and a hand-painted sign that has faded under decades of Seoul sunlight. It opened in the nineteen sixties as a neighborhood necessity when private bathrooms…

One hundred and eight concrete steps climb the steep hillside of Yongsan-dong. These stairs bear the weight of a painful history from the Japanese colonial period, when a Shinto shrine stood at the summit. Residents were forced to climb…

The building at COMFORT in Huam-dong features a stark, folded concrete exterior that sharply cuts into the slope of the hill. It sits on a site where a traditional residential house once stood, replaced by this structure to serve as a hub…

The corrugated iron roof panels stretching across the center of Sinheung Market catch the light in a way that separates this space from the surrounding neighborhood. Built in the late nineteen sixties, the market initially served refugees…

Storage Book and Film occupies a modest ground-level space distinguished by a bright yellow door that stands out against the gray concrete of the neighborhood. This bookstore focuses exclusively on independent publications, zines, and…

The Goyo Bookshop features a single, prominent floor-to-ceiling glass window that looks out onto the narrow streets of Yongsan. Unlike large retail chains, this space functions as a sanctuary for silence, where visitors are encouraged to…