Becoming a Haenyeo-Architect, Making a Commons

Abstract

What can an architect do to an imminent extinction of a culture? Through fieldwork, I documented traditional tools, architecture, land-seascapes, and rituals of Haenyeo in Jeju Island, South Korea, engaged with the community, and built a new commons on site. As early as 1105, Hae-nyeo (‘sea-woman’) or Jam-nyeo (‘divingwoman’) have subsisted by diving into the sea without breathing apparatus to catch animals and plants, in addition to farming their land and livestock. Across land and sea, they designed, built, and expanded these commons with scarce resources. Badang-bat, or ‘ocean-farmland’, refers to Haenyeo fishery where resources and productions are regulated and shared among them. Bul-teok is an outdoor ‘fire-place’ near a diving point, where Haenyeo changed clothes, rested babies, discussed issues, and prayed for safety. Haenyeo-ui-jip or ‘House(s) of Haenyeo’ were built in the late 1980s by the local government as a modern translation of Bulteok; these single-story bathhouses, cladded with local basalt stones, included a communal bathroom, living room, and kitchenette. More of these commons are being abandoned as the Haenyeo population ages and shrinks - as of 2021, the number of Jeju Haenyeo has decreased by ~83% since 1965. Using an abandoned Bulteok, I built a new commons within the Samyang Haenyeo community where I could stay and participate in their daily practices. The rebuilt fireplace and added roof open new conversations between the closed & closing world of Haenyeo, and the younger generations.