The Choreography of the City : Adaptive Transformation of Apartment Superblock

Abstract

This thesis reads Hallyu not only as a global cultural image, but as an everyday urban practice. In Seoul, cultural life is produced through ordinary routines—eating, shopping, rehearsing, gathering, and moving through the city—and takes root where the built fabric can absorb change. Districts such as Hongdae and Yeonnam show how small parcels, accessible ground floors, and loosened zoning allow residential buildings to accommodate cultural, commercial, and social programs over time. By contrast, the apartment superblock, Korea’s dominant residential body, is organized through large parcels, single-use zoning, internalized circulation, and controlled ground. Through the adaptive transformation of Shindonga Apartment in Seobinggo, this thesis asks how an isolated housing complex can become a more open urban fabric. The proposal reconnects the site to Yongsan Park and the Han River, inserting cultural corridors, landscape, community programs, and adapted residential structures without erasing the apartment body.