Korean Job Discussion Forums

[samd]

I've been meaning to ask this question for a while, but keep forgetting about it.

Why do so many houses/buildings in rural Korea have blue roofs?

[Lekker]

Look at google earth. It's astonishing.

I think maybe if the hue of the roof matches the hue of the sky with the same chromatic value, then maybe, just maybe, it will help repel the heat?

Maybe not. I wonder the same thing as well.

[Hyeon Een]

I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure that traditionally it was illegal to have blue roofs. Only the king was allowed a blue roof. If you put a blue roof on your house you could be executed or something.

So all the blue roofs today are people taking advantage of the fact that it's no longer illegal. And it makes them feel like little princes and princesses.

Not sure why it's mostly warehouses and the like though..

[crescent]

2 explanations:

1. Blue represents one of the 5 elements/colors of nature (obang saek) and is usually present on buildings not near water.

2. It symbolizes prosperity / royalty.

[cheeseface]

[WoBW]

I think the blue looks kinda nice actually.

Similarly, why do so many of the villa style apartment buildings have green window frames?

[pkang0202]

[Binch Lover]

On a related note, I've always thought things here look so messy because of the horrible colored roofs. Whenever I go to the countryside, there's always a building with some horrible bright plastic on it to ruin the view. Or else there's a big pile of rubbish.

[bassexpander]

Our uni started putting gardens on top of buildings. They're quite nicely done, actually. One has a gazebo with a pond (including fish and a turtle), pine trees around the edges, and picnic tables for study. The tables are all very clean garden-style tables meant to blend in. Green grass covers everything else.

I just hope the roof doesn't fall through, because my class is right below it!