Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dev]

Does anyone know the reason for this?
Some buildings in the countryside have bright blue colored roofs.
It's an unusual color choice I think since it's not in harmony at all with the surrounding nature.

[anae]

Blue sure beats the orange.

[cbclark4]

I've seen some orange ones. Were they tile or corrugated metal?

[SeoulFinn]

As far as I know, bright or deep blue symbolizes sky in Chinese (and therefore in Korean) architecture. When sky is deep blue everything is supposed to be well. Maybe people believe that blue roof is an auspicious omen and will bring luck and prosperity?

[nobbyken]

I think I seen blue roofs on some old Palace buildings.
It meant a sign of prosperity, as they were expensive.

[kat2]

Its some kind of sealant to keep the roof water tight. Nothing too glamourous

[kotakji]

[Qinella]

[Dev]

I don't know what the material is. The color is almost the same as the blue waste bins that we see everywhere.

[jeffusensei]

I think it has something to do with the Saemaul movement of the 70s. Saemaul was a nation-wide rurally based movement to modernize the country that included training sessions in the countryside in agricultural techniques. They also rebuilt much of the rural housing and the blue and orange (if memory serves) were the trademark roofing colours. Saemaul still exists today though it's facilities are largely used for corporate trainings (interesting transition, socialist to uber-capitalist).

[Qinella]

[eamo]

[Smee]

Well, I don't know if I buy the "blue = sky" reason as the primary explanation. This isn't the subtle shade of blue you see on some palaces or Confucian academies. This blue is brighter than the toolbar on the bottom of my screen. Oh well, the blue and orange aren't as bad as the "ruffled" metal on most of the homes around here (not sure of the proper name).

[IncognitoHFX]

Its not necessarily just the countryside either. Here in Anyang/Uiwang a lot of the roofs are blue as well, just look at it on Google Earth and you'll see.

I don't have any explanation for it, but I think even the roof of my apartment is blue.

[Alyallen]

I am probably horribly wrong or confused but I vaguely remember reading something about South Korea having a distinct view from satellites because of the blue tiles...something about it harder to hit specific targets...But that might have been in reference to military installations....