The Peace and the Culture Bunker
Built in 1970, after the Korean war , a military bunker now has conversed into a culture and a community center for the citizen. The feature of the bunker and the trace of the time were preserved delicately, and buildings for newly adopted programs was added strategically.
The history: Apartment and the bunker
Originally the Peace and the Culture Bunker (an anti-tank defense shelter) was a military facility built on the spot of the way from the North to the South during the Korean War. It was completed in 1970 and was originally used for the military usage on its first floor, and residence for the soldiers from the 2nd to 4th. The apartment was basically for the soldiers but also a camouflage for concealing the military facility underneath it.
From the military to community
The bunker consists of 5 units and each had been connected with a corridor. The whole length reaches almost 250 meters. Each volume (40m by 14m) had contained ㄷ-shape space for military operations and space for supporting it.
As a renovating strategy, some old part was removed except the ㄷ-shape space and new space with steel structure was added in front of the courtyard. The new construction and the courtyard serve spaces for working and resting for the artists and the local community.
The remained part of the old is supposed to be used as a space for various activities such as exhibitions and lectures, and for newly constructed buildings, support facilities such as offices and a janitor’s room have been assigned to Unit 1, as well as studios for artists in Unit 2, 3, and 4. And a restaurant for the community in Unit 5. In front of Unit 5, a 20m-high observatory has been constructed as a resting space which offers a view of the park and surrounding natural environment.
The rooftop space provides resting walks that reach 250 meters long linking the 5 units. In indoor condition also, the path is continued to the west of the Jungnangchen Stream with the corridor in the bunker and two underground paths
Hopefully, the Peace Culture Bunker sitting in a space that connects the past with the present and linking the north-south citizen park axis and the west-east natural environment axis will continue to enrich its own meaning in terms of both time and space.
