Colonial period architecture
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During the Japanese occupation in the Colonial Korea era, there was an attempt by the colonial government of the Empire of Japan to replace Korean architecture with Japanese architectural traditions.[6] Significant structures of Korean Imperial palace compounds and their traditional Korean gardens were demolished. Important landscape elements were removed and sold or taken for use in Japan. Ancient bunjae trees were taken for replanting as bonsai in Japanese gardens. Also during Japanese occupation, the construction of traditional Korean religious buildings (Buddhist or Confucian) was discouraged, as well as adaptations in Christian churches. Some Korean people resisted the Japanese nationalist agenda by building traditional Korean hanok homes, such as the houses of Jeonju village.[7] The colonial disregard for Korean architecture and its history left important Korean landmarks neglected and unmaintained, and the deterioration or demolition of significant examples of architecture resulted. Some historic buildings were also redecorated using Japanese ornamentation methods.
Japanese architecture was first introduced to Colonial Korea via transportation infrastructure-building programs. New railway lines had Japanese-type railway stations and hotels. The Japanese also built new city halls, post offices, barracks and military bases, jails and prisons, and police stations and police boxes (koban). Having prohibited the use of the Korean language in the media and education, Japan built new schools for the Japanese education of Koreans.
Western 'Euro-American' Revival architectural styles were used for some new buildings important to the Japanese occupation in Korea. An example is the Neoclassical style Japanese General Government Building (1926), the Seoul Station (1925), and the Seoul City Hall (1926).
Materials for building construction in Korea were in short supply. The Korean old-growth forests and particularly large cypress logs were under Japanese logging operations and shipped to Japan, along with other exportable building materials.
The Japanese occupation blocked 20th century Western design movements, including Art Deco and Modernist architecture, from reaching Colonial Korea. Korean architecture with 20th-century influences did not develop until after Korean independence in 1946.