Korean Characteristic Architecture: Pluralistic Church

There are cafes, hot kangtou and basketball courts in Korean churches. Such a large-scale comprehensive church reflects the large proportion of missionary work in Korean church culture.

Church architecture is one of the Korean architectures that make foreign architects feel novel. Because some large churches in Korea have coffee houses, basketball courts, recreation rooms and concert halls, and even hot kangtou, which is far from their church concept.

This kind of "pluralistic church" with various comprehensive social activities facilities is rare abroad and can be said to be unique to South Korea. Although there are many large churches like Saddle Peak in California, few of them are "advanced" and have such comprehensive facilities as South Korea.

Sung-hong Kim, a professor of architecture at Seoul City University, summed up the unique feature of Korean church architecture-"multi-storey structure" in one sentence, and explained: "European churches pay attention to its significance as a' place of worship', so they are all single-storey buildings with the main hall as the center, while Korean churches have the significance of' missionary space', so they often adopt vertical structures with different functions."

In fact, by introducing various social activity spaces into the church to expand the scope of missionary work, the purpose of the church has been fully reflected in the church building. Li Zhongji, the designer of Chongren Church in Chongren Cave, Beizuojiadong Zhongxin Church and Pengtang Ghana 'an Church in Jongno-gu, Seoul, sounds very interesting. "There are many factors to consider when designing a church in Korea, such as a hot kang for the elderly and a freezer for funerals. There is such a joke that' if you want to know the latest fashion in Korean society, then go to church', which shows that the church in South Korea is the epitome of a society. "

Of course, realistic factors have also accelerated the development trend of pluralistic churches. Liu Jie, the designer of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the new office building of Bethel Church, said: "In order to meet these conditions, Korean church buildings have to be large and complicated."

Another major feature of Korean churches is that they faithfully reflect the most popular architectural styles in church buildings. At present, the external walls of some churches are designed with bare concrete, so it is difficult to judge whether they are churches or not from the appearance. Some churches even put wooden floors on roof platforms and run open-air cafes.

Today, the "Korean-style pluralistic church" has crossed the ocean to foreign countries. The Kawasaki Super Catholic Church, established in Kawasaki, Japan last year, is a multi-functional building with a coffee shop and a concert hall. This work was designed by South Korean architect Lee Jong-ji at the invitation of a Japanese priest. The Korean church, which was born under the special national conditions of Korea, has now become a model of church architecture and is popular overseas.