Features of South Korean Traditional Architecture
South Korean architecture has distinctive features that stand out from the rest of the world. Even though they heavily borrow the style from the Japanese traditional way of building homes, the features of South Korean traditional architecture is one that is modified keeping in mind the weather and the environment of South Korea. A distinguishing feature of hanok; a traditional Korean home, is the under-floor space heating arrangement called ondol ( 온돌 ) which is an arrangement of networks of channels that run underneath the floor of the house from which warmness is distributed from the fireplace in the kitchen to provide heat to the floor of the house so people can use the floor for both feasting and sleeping in daily life. The unit of the house closer to the furnace is warmer and the warmer area is earmarked for elders. Furthermore, ondol is used for health purposes – it is supposed that lying on the hot floor in the cold winter can help keep away illness and ...