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SMOE NSET
Joined: 25 Feb 2010
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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eamo:
I have heard from a friend that the apartment prices have almost doubled in value/price since the development started. His friend lives in Pangyo and said his apartment value has almost doubled. They are RIDICULOUSLY priced now. I would guess the stand alone houses are at least $15 million U.S. They are neat though and I suppose if you had the money the houses are a great investment seeing as the value has nowhere to go but up. I would personally prefer a back yard bigger than the size of a mid-size car but that is just my personal preference. They do have some nice rooftop terraces that I could see being a great place to BBQ/relax like a backyard.
I have heard rumors of a housing bubble popping for the last five years but it has yet to happen. If it does, I have a feeling this country will see it's suicide rate significantly increase.
The biggest thing I don't understand is they keep building apartments and the prices aren't going down. The issue is that no one is moving into these new apartments and many of them are more than 50% vacant in some areas yet the prices just keep going up. They have shown a few news reports on this very subject and they couldn't explain the phenomenon either. You would think too much supply and little demand would drop the price but it isn't so. Maybe the developers are putting the losses onto the residents and that is why the prices keep going up. There will have to be a limit one of these days and I dread to see what happens.
As for the quality of these new apartments, the news report also showed how they were not improving on the insulation. They went into recently built apartments and showed the mold problems already forming and ice forming inside the apartments! |
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SMOE NSET
Joined: 25 Feb 2010
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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Few koreans seem interested in nostalgia living like westerners do. In the west, people buy old barns, vintage homes, and decorate homes like different eras. I posed this idea to some koreans and they said it's stupid; The more modern the better.
That is the problem right there. I have been in quite a few Korean friends' apartments and they were all differently decorated. I wouldn't even say over half were "modernly" decorated. One has all hand carved wood furniture with a country feel (lived in the South U.S.), another has a very open concept apartment that makes it feel bigger, another has a sports memorabilia room, and none of them feel the same. Well you got the big flat-screen T.V. part right. That would be the only thing that I can recognize as the "same".
As for renovating old places, you are wrong again. A famous designer did just that. She bought an old school house and converted it. There was a whole program about it on T.V. The only problem is the lack of "old places". Many of them were destroyed in the war or demolished for new apartments. Koreans DO renovate old places though.[/b] |
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BackRow
Joined: 28 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:50 am Post subject: |
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| stop using building materials that make dirt easily visible, it's pretty unsightly how bad pretty much every "white" building looks |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:08 am Post subject: |
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| SMOE NSET wrote: |
Few koreans seem int
erested in nostalgia living like westerners do. In the west, people buy old barns, vintage homes, and decorate homes like different eras. I posed this idea to some koreans and they said it's stupid; The more modern the better.
That is the problem right there. I have been in quite a few Korean friends' apartments and they were all differently decorated. I wouldn't even say over half were "modernly" decorated. One has all hand carved wood furniture with a country feel (lived in the South U.S.), another has a very open concept apartment that makes it feel bigger, another has a sports memorabilia room, and none of them feel the same. Well you got the big flat-screen T.V. part right. That would be the only thing that I can recognize as the "same".
As for renovating old places, you are wrong again. A famous designer did just that. She bought an old school house and converted it. There was a whole program about it on T.V. The only problem is the lack of "old places". Many of them were destroyed in the war or demolished for new apartments. Koreans DO renovate old places though.[/b] |
By Nostalgia, I mean similar to older korean style homes; Not themes. Nice to see your friends actually have themes....most of the ones I've seen follow the "crowded with junk, wall to wall" method of decorating.
There are plenty of old places in Seoul. They have correspondingly low real estate values despite being bigger in size sometimes. |
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alongway
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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| minos wrote: |
| SMOE NSET wrote: |
Few koreans seem int
erested in nostalgia living like westerners do. In the west, people buy old barns, vintage homes, and decorate homes like different eras. I posed this idea to some koreans and they said it's stupid; The more modern the better.
That is the problem right there. I have been in quite a few Korean friends' apartments and they were all differently decorated. I wouldn't even say over half were "modernly" decorated. One has all hand carved wood furniture with a country feel (lived in the South U.S.), another has a very open concept apartment that makes it feel bigger, another has a sports memorabilia room, and none of them feel the same. Well you got the big flat-screen T.V. part right. That would be the only thing that I can recognize as the "same".
As for renovating old places, you are wrong again. A famous designer did just that. She bought an old school house and converted it. There was a whole program about it on T.V. The only problem is the lack of "old places". Many of them were destroyed in the war or demolished for new apartments. Koreans DO renovate old places though.[/b] |
By Nostalgia, I mean similar to older korean style homes; Not themes. Nice to see your friends actually have themes....most of the ones I've seen follow the "crowded with junk, wall to wall" method of decorating.
There are plenty of old places in Seoul. They have correspondingly low real estate values despite being bigger in size sometimes. |
Usually because age here means that they're not very good. Older places were built far quicker to far lower standards.
I recently looked around 30 odd places when I was searching for a new apartment.
I looked at a very old place, had a garden with several large trees and other plants, it was a split level, the person downstairs was a poet and he owned the building. It was very large. Huge rooms, big windows, high ceilings, stairs on which a second's inattention would kill you, and cheap.
Problem was I could see that it would easily cost about 400,000 a month in the winter to keep warm. The windows were old and drafty, and there were a ton of them. No putting plastic over them, even weather stripping wouldn't have helped. It was also fairly dirty, and I couldn't be confident of the mould situation come winter either.
This place was around 40-50 years old, built shortly after the war. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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| alongway wrote: |
| Problem was I could see that it would easily cost about 400,000 a month in the winter to keep warm. The windows were old and drafty, and there were a ton of them. No putting plastic over them, even weather stripping wouldn't have helped. It was also fairly dirty, and I couldn't be confident of the mould situation come winter either. |
The lack of double-paned windows here is a serious problem, even in newer buildings. Climate control is used about eight months of the year here, and Korea imports nearly all of its fuel for energy production. While I realize that Korean buildings tend to be built quickly and cheaply, a nationwide effort to switch to double-paned windows seems like it would only serve to save everyone money in the long run. |
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alongway
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| alongway wrote: |
| Problem was I could see that it would easily cost about 400,000 a month in the winter to keep warm. The windows were old and drafty, and there were a ton of them. No putting plastic over them, even weather stripping wouldn't have helped. It was also fairly dirty, and I couldn't be confident of the mould situation come winter either. |
The lack of double-paned windows here is a serious problem, even in newer buildings. Climate control is used about eight months of the year here, and Korea imports nearly all of its fuel for energy production. While I realize that Korean buildings tend to be built quickly and cheaply, a nationwide effort to switch to double-paned windows seems like it would only serve to save everyone money in the long run. |
I think they attempt to compensate for that by putting in double windows everywhere. Most places I've been have two sets of windows. This place did as well. The problem is the older places had wooden windows which have warped over time and are no longer tight, if they ever were. More modern places have modern windows that are tight and don't let any significant air flow through, if at all. Older places you pretty much have to put plastic over the entire window if you want any chance. |
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Savant
Joined: 25 May 2007
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| alongway wrote: |
| Problem was I could see that it would easily cost about 400,000 a month in the winter to keep warm. The windows were old and drafty, and there were a ton of them. No putting plastic over them, even weather stripping wouldn't have helped. It was also fairly dirty, and I couldn't be confident of the mould situation come winter either. |
The lack of double-paned windows here is a serious problem, even in newer buildings. Climate control is used about eight months of the year here, and Korea imports nearly all of its fuel for energy production. While I realize that Korean buildings tend to be built quickly and cheaply, a nationwide effort to switch to double-paned windows seems like it would only serve to save everyone money in the long run. |
Yep! The windows in my room now (a co-op place, reasonably new building) leak heat and let in cold air. Hence, it's why I've got plastic sheets up to limit my heat loss.
Speaking of insulation? Do newer buildings have any decent wall insulation?
As northway alluded to, Korea needs to get smart with its building construction to help manage its energy consumption. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Savant wrote: |
| As northway alluded to, Korea needs to get smart with its building construction to help manage its energy consumption. |
Yeah, I'm kind of surprised that the government hasn't put more stringent regulations into place on insulation and whatnot. They could even give their buddies in the chaebols a heads up and allow them to prepare beforehand. It's definitely a long term win.
| alongway wrote: |
| I think they attempt to compensate for that by putting in double windows everywhere. Most places I've been have two sets of windows. This place did as well. The problem is the older places had wooden windows which have warped over time and are no longer tight, if they ever were. More modern places have modern windows that are tight and don't let any significant air flow through, if at all. Older places you pretty much have to put plastic over the entire window if you want any chance. |
Alas, none of the relatively new officetels in my area possess such modern contrivances. I got curtains to conserve the heat, and they've made a difference of about two degrees compared to the curtainless windows I had in the same apartment last year. |
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Harpeau
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Location: Coquitlam, BC
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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| I agree with most of what has been stated. I would highlight the need for better bicycle lanes and trees. In addition, hire a couple Northern European architect's that can design something that is visually beautiful. Great thread. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Harpeau wrote: |
| I agree with most of what has been stated. I would highlight the need for better bicycle lanes and trees. In addition, hire a couple Northern European architect's that can design something that is visually beautiful. Great thread. |
I don't think this is necessary. Korea has plenty of Western trained architects, they're just told to emphasize different things than their peers elsewhere. |
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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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Stop designing buildings to be deliberately ugly?
Stop making every park and building look the same?
Build on a human scale, rather than having monumental buildings surrounded by 6 lane roads. People like nooks, crannies, backstreets where you can wander, and roads that pedestrians can cross in a couple of seconds. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Privateer wrote: |
| Build on a human scale, rather than having monumental buildings surrounded by 6 lane roads. People like nooks, crannies, backstreets where you can wander, and roads that pedestrians can cross in a couple of seconds. |
1)Your perspective about 6 lane roads might be different if you owned a car and had to drive in that area.
2)You may like nooks and crannies, but there is a reason rental rates are higher on main roads- visibility and traffic. And tourists tend to stick to main roads rather than nooks and crannies. The whole getting lost thing.
3)Isn't Seoul already filled with side streets and whatnot? |
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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| But you can't say Korean culture is bad because it doesn't value utility/beauty. Clearly in the area of personal dress they do value beauty, and clearly in the area of urban development they favor utility. |
Beauty is a universal. I like the traditional Korean aesthetic, blacks and whites on textured surfaces, wood and stone. It has its own quality of beauty.
Modern day Korean architecture, on the other hand, has no quality of beauty. It's designed to be ugly, I believe, because it comes from a group of people with ugly minds - people interested in domination simply through having buildings of monumental size, in imposing their monumental ugliness on people. Or, at any rate, people with no aesthetic sense.
Why can't we say that's bad? It obviously is.
edwardcatflap is right: ugliness in the environment does make a big difference. It's depressing. |
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Stout
Joined: 28 May 2011
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Yangachi wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Few koreans seem interested in nostalgia living like westerners do. In the west, people buy old barns, vintage homes, and decorate homes like different eras. I posed this idea to some koreans and they said it's stupid; The more modern the better. |
This is because the majority of Koreans have very little appreciation for art, design, aesthetics, etc. |
Confucianism is all about comformity, so one would expect not to find any real understanding/sympathy for the above beyond reciting what they've read in texts and magazines. |
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