[In-Depth Look] What If Seoul Hilton Hotel Disappears?

Ham Hyeri / Journalist · Cultural Critic

Real estate prices are soaring to unprecedented heights. Some suffer from taxes that have risen beyond their control, while others endure the frustration of having to live as lifelong non-homeowners. Although the government's repeated failures in real estate policies aimed at curbing housing prices have largely contributed to driving prices up, the deeper root lies in the vulgar capitalism that views real estate as merely a means to make money, which is deeply entrenched in our society.

In this context, the voice of architects is nowhere to be heard, and architecture loses its place. Only developers who erase long histories in an instant and maximize efficiency per space receive applause. Recently, upon encountering news related to the Millennium Hilton Seoul hotel, I am once again reminded that even good architecture is not exempt from this trend.

The Hilton Seoul is a five-star hotel that opened in December 1983 at the foot of Namsan in Seoul, with 23 floors and about 700 rooms. Architect Kim Jong-sung began designing it in 1978 at the request of former Daewoo Group chairman Kim Woo-joong and completed the building in six years. Born in 1935, Kim Jong-sung studied architecture at Seoul National University before going to the United States, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees under the guidance of modernist architectural master Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). From 1962, he worked for 11 years at Mies’s architectural firm. After becoming independent in 1972 and running Kim Jong-sung Architects, he also served as the vice dean of IIT, making him a legitimate successor to Mies van der Rohe both practically and academically. The Hilton Hotel project was what led him to decide to return to Korea.

The site at the foot of Namsan, connected to the Daewoo Building in front of Seoul Station, was not an easy terrain for building a massive hotel. The height difference of the slope connecting Namsan Road on the east side and the ground on the west side was a staggering 18 meters. He solved the slope issue by placing the main lobby on the Namsan side and creating a huge atrium that extends down to the basement level 1 via stairs. The design was completed with an elliptical skylight bringing in natural light, bronze columns connecting three floors, and a tiered indoor fountain installed in the middle of the branching stairs.

Although the finishing and construction methods made it nearly impossible to realize the design, he personally searched for craftsmen skilled in corrosion copper plates and did not hesitate to engage in manual work. Marble was imported from Carrara, Italy, a top producer of premium marble, for the interior, and he personally designed the tiered indoor fountain. The building appeared luxurious, and the technology used to realize the design and finishing was cutting-edge at the time, employing a curtain wall system. The hotel, with its corners bent as if embracing Namsan, maintained a strict, neat, and sophisticated presence without showing off itself, just like Mies van der Rohe’s architecture, guarding Namsan and imprinting the image of Korea’s robust progress toward the future.

However, this perfectly fine hotel, a masterpiece by a world-renowned architect, is now on the verge of disappearance. CDL Hotel Korea, the largest shareholder of Hilton Seoul, which has operated the hotel for 23 years after acquiring ownership from Daewoo Development under Daewoo Group during the 1999 financial crisis, is currently in final negotiations to sell the hotel to Aegis Asset Management. It is known that Aegis plans to demolish the hotel after acquisition and build an office building on the site.

Feeling saddened, I called architect Kim Jong-sung, who is currently staying in New York, USA. While other countries find value in old buildings, the idea of demolishing a building only 38 years old must have much to say, but he calmly controlled his emotions and said, "Cutting losses due to accumulated deficits is inevitable. However, the Hilton Hotel is a work that pursued architectural completeness by connecting the sloped site with the main lobby and basement level 1 and bringing in natural light, so it holds great significance. I hope they consider not only maximum profit but also preserve the potential architectural value."

I sincerely hope his wish to find the best alternative by preserving the architecture while utilizing floor area ratio is accepted. That is the path a country that respects culture and history must choose.