Choga (architecture)

Choga (Korean: 초가; Hanja: 草家) denotes one of two traditional nature-friendly house types in Korea. The main building materials used to build these houses are straw, wood and soil.[1][2]

Kim Il Sung's Choga near Pyongyang
Choga in Korean Folk Village in South Korea

Choga roofs were especially popular among farmers and low-income classes in traditional Korean society.[3] Certain plants, such as gourds and pumpkins, could be grown on top of Choga roofs. One of the major disadvantages of the materials used, in particular rice straw, was that it could rot quickly when exposed to the elements.[4]

Choga remained the most prevalent type of housing within rural and common class Korea up until late 20th century, due to its flexibility and ease of construction. Traditional housing started to see a decline in face of modernisation and industrialisation, and Chogas across the country were replaced with cement and slate roofs (Jung, 2019). Efforts to preserve traditional Korean living spaces are mostly focused on the tiled-roof houses once commonplace within the upperclass, neglectful of straw-roofed Chogas (InvestKorea, 2021).

See also

References
  1. Yoo, Myeonng-jong (2008). 100 Cultural Symbols of Korea (1 ed.). 431, king’s garden office hotel 3rd complex, 72, naesoo-dong, Jongno-gu. seoul, korea: Discovery Media. p. 96.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. "Korean House". Dangoon. Archived from the original on 2005-01-01. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
  3. Jackson, Ben; Koehler, Robert (2015). Korean Architecture: Breathing with Nature. Seoul, South Korea: Seoul Selection. p. 122. ISBN 9781624120473.
  4. Jackson, Ben; Koehler, Robert (2015). Korean Architecture: Breathing with Nature. Seoul, South Korea: Seoul Selection. p. 122. ISBN 9781624120473.


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