Treatment of Western Wooden Roof Trusses in Early 20th Century Korea

Abstract

As a result of investigating 16 architectural technical books and 72 buildings of modern architectural properties, this paper attempts to illustrate the various treatments of Western wooden roof trusses mixed with Korean roof elements in early 20th century Korea. During this time, new styles such as king post truss, queen post truss, wood-steel composite roof truss, and other roof structures were introduced; which resulted in a mixed style of wooden roofs that used braces, like a strut, in traditional Korean roof structures with a horizontal collar tie in the Western style for the purpose of increasing rigidity. Other changes also appeared in the various types of joint details such as rafter joint, principal rafter joint, and eave details. Korean carpenters tried to accommodate traditional elements and new western style systems in the structural aspect of roof construction. Through the extent to which the findings can be specified for some treatments in the historical and technical standpoint of Korean modern architecture, implications are briefly considered for a unique Korean roof shape in the process of modernization.