[Harumanbo Harucheonja] "Huam-dong's Vein-like Alley Impressive... Walked 30,000 Steps in Budapest"

'Urban Explorer' Architect Lee Jong-wook, City Walk = Treasure Hunt
Walking Multiple Times Reveals Spatiotemporal and Historical Meanings
Accumulated 100 City Walk Paintings... Wants to Share with Others

Architect Lee Jong-wook (45) is known as an "urban explorer." He walks the same streets repeatedly until he can vividly capture the design structure of urban buildings and the image of the streets that embrace them. His 2021 publication, "The City Seen by Walking, Seoul," was the result of walking dozens of times around the old downtown area centered on Seoul Station and expressing it through drawings. Although these streets are familiar in Seoul, he sharply and delicately depicted scenes that are not easily noticed. Graduating from Yonsei University’s Department of Architectural Engineering, he has designed buildings such as Samsung Electronics’ Vietnam complex and American home appliance complexes. The driving force behind his ability to design buildings that harmonize with the urban image was his habit of walking until he truly understood the essence of the streets, he said.

Lee became passionate about urban walking during his university days when he took a class called "Photography and Appreciation." He walked around the city to take photos, which also connected with his architectural studies. “For me, urban walking was a kind of treasure hunt. It was a passion similar to that of a young fan enthusiastic about an idol.” He said that even if the buildings he observed were not grand or spectacular, he found it fascinating to read the styles, history, and construction methods embedded in the corners of ordinary buildings.

Architect Lee Jong-wook's urban walk and recorded drawings

At first, this architect reviews and records the paths he has walked. He does this to understand, from a macro perspective, where the current street is located and the names and functions of the buildings. Walking the same street multiple times allows him to notice small details like nearby monuments and plaques that he initially missed. He said, “I tried to capture everything in my drawings to make the city’s time and space my own,” adding, “In the end, I even came to understand the historical significance of these streets.” He also said, “Walking stems from a kind of possessiveness.” When he had accumulated nearly 100 city drawings through urban walks, he wanted to share them with others.

His favorite walking route is the network of streets in Huam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, which connect like capillaries. Lee said, “It’s not much different from any ordinary neighborhood, but the single-story buildings and cozy cultural houses along the streets create a warm feeling when walking.” He even took photos with his heavily pregnant wife against the backdrop of Huam-dong’s walls. “It’s a feeling of being warmly embraced without resistance, I guess? I really liked the course from Hyochang Park, passing through Cheongpa-ro 47 near Sookmyung Women’s University, crossing the Sookmyung Station intersection, wandering through every corner of Huam-dong along Duteokbawi 1-gil, and then climbing up to Namsan from Huam 3-way.”

Due to the nature of his architectural work, Lee often travels abroad for projects. Thanks to this, he was able to walk through various cities overseas. When he stayed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2016, he fearlessly walked even into the corners of slum areas. During an eight-month business trip to South Carolina, USA, in 2018, he drove to nearby cities like Columbia and Charlotte, and sometimes as far as Atlanta, every weekend morning, walking and photographing various parts of these cities reachable in a day. “The best city for walking abroad was Budapest, Hungary, where I stayed for a month in 2021. After work, I spent my evenings walking daily around famous tourist spots like Buda Castle, Fisherman’s Bastion, Gell?rt Hill, and the Danube riverside, walking at least 10,000 steps and sometimes up to 30,000 steps a day.”

The alleyway in Huam-dong with a view of Namsan Tower is a favorite walking path of architect Lee Jong-wook.

Nevertheless, Lee says, “I prefer streets in slightly older neighborhoods.” In fact, many of his drawings realistically depict red brick houses built in the 1980s and 1990s and old shops like “○○ Stationery” that could only be seen in front of schools in the past. He said, “The essence of walking is discovering the time embedded within the city.” “If it’s a new town or a fully redeveloped area where no traces remain to read the time of the old city, no matter how neat and sophisticated it is, there’s no joy in walking there.”

Because he enjoys urban walking, he has a habit of wandering around without a fixed destination. “Buildings and the surrounding scenery change every time depending on the viewing position and angle. I’m also very interested in the feeling of change when the scenery blends in.”

For this architect, walking and strolling are different concepts. Walking is simply expending energy on a treadmill, he said. In contrast, strolling is an act of seeing what you want to see and becoming familiar with it, which creates attachment and interest in a place. He said, “If you don’t find anything interesting when looking at things on a computer or phone, I recommend walking anywhere.” He added, “The world you see by walking on your own two feet is definitely different from the world shown on a screen.”