Director Lee Sang-hyun is a leading hanok expert, whose study of hanok is not focused only on its architectural characters, but its place and influence on Korean lifestyle, culture, and values.

He was steered into the field of hanok after he was shocked by hanok relegated to the status of museum antiquities.



One of the humanistic values that Lee discovered in hanok was its role as a channel of interaction. The unique structure of hanok facilitates the connection between nature and man.

Hanok features such as madang (yard), gudeul (furnace), and hanji-covered windows all function to bring man and the environment, as well as family members and neighbors, closer together. It is Lee Sang-hyun’s hope that instead of standardized apartment constructions or stereotypical urban renewal projects, hanoks would undergo a timely transformation and keep Korea’s traditional housing alive and well.