Rediscovering old buildings that shine as they get older, analog walks at Incheon Port - Jung-gu, Incheon, Korea
Café spot, designated as a modern cultural heritage
Rediscovering old buildings that shine as they get older, analog walks at Incheon Port
Jung-gu, Incheon, Korea
Next to the bustling Chinatown, Incheon Open Port Modern History and Culture Town has a history of more than 130 years after opening. Compared to Chinatown, spaces that resemble black and white photographs seem to be hidden in the more leisurely streets. I found a space that has been reborn as a sensuous cafe or gallery by recycling buildings that have been lit up with traces of time. Let's walk through the faded time.
Reborn of a 100-year-old wooden house, cafe pot
When you go to the Incheon Jung-gu Office, the Japanese wooden houses create an exotic scenery. It is a painful trace of the looting after the opening of Incheon in 1883, but the scenery in which Chinatown and Japanese buildings are clearly divided is distinctive. In the streets of old churches, cafes, and museums, the buildings bearing the sign of 'Korea Modern Cultural Heritage' stand out. It is a cafe pot that has entered a 3-story wooden house for over 100 years. On weekends, it is always crowded with people looking for red bean porridge and red bean shaved ice.
Baek Young-im, who has been a citizen cultural movement in Incheon, opened a cafe here because of the value of architecture. This building was an office and a lodging company for over 100 Korean workers in Japan. After liberation, it was used for various purposes such as herbal medicine, Nonghyup, and newspapers. As it was revealed that the building was built between the late 1880s and the early 1890s, the white sand beach was examined with expert advice to see if it was worth preserving. As far as the record goes, there have been no cases where three-storey Japanese-style combined use houses remain intact. The interior structure was made as long as possible and hung on the restoration work for a long time.
Window seat facing the open port street
"I think it's better to keep what is left than to make it new. It was a pity that modern buildings in Incheon disappeared before they even announced their value. Even if it was restored, I hoped that it would be a cafe where people can come and go more easily than a space stuffed with history. I did it. "
In the following year, Fatal was designated as a registered cultural property No. 567 in recognition of its architectural value.
Myeongdang of Fatal connected to the outside garden
Inside the cafe, there is an old-fashioned atmosphere. Hand-held accessories, such as a wooden ceiling exposed in the old way, a small garden in the back yard, a table using a sewing machine used by my mother, and a phone made in 1918, matched nicely. Postcards and brochures are displayed at the entrance of the cafe where you can see the port opening season. On the 2nd to 3rd floor, there is a tatami room operated by reservation system.
2nd floor tatami room with black and white photos
Patal's representative menu is Nagasaki Castella, which is baked with plenty of red bean porridge made from domestic red beans, red bean ice water, and honey. There are many customers who visit the cafeteria near the school and remember the taste of red bean porridge that they bought and bought five times ago. Along with sweet red bean porridge, there are many customers who visit red bean shaved ice, which is sold only for 100 bowls a day on weekends, and castella, which was a gift for weddings in the 1960s and 1970s.
Sweet red bean porridge with chewy injeolmi and cinnamon scent
Ganghwa-do glutinous rice and glutinous rice cake made from domestic red beans are good to serve with black tea.
Glutinous rice cake made in a cooperative made up of local bakeries in Incheon
Gwandong Gallery, a house with a 90-year-old tree fragrance
From Fatal, enter Incheon Jung-gu Office and enter the alley on the left, leading to the Kwandong Gallery. After the opening, consulates and police stations were concentrated in this area. There were many government offices, so it was named Kanto. Named after the region, the Kwandong Gallery opens a unique exhibition by taking advantage of the regional characteristics of the cultural junction between Korea, China and Japan.
Current status of Kwandong Gallery
Traces of more than 90 years old are hidden in various places around the small exhibition hall. It is the couple of Ikuko Toda and photographer Eun-Gyu Ryu, who inadvertently breathe new life into an old house that might be overlooked, who went on a study abroad trip to Korea more than 30 years ago. In the Kanto region, which was a Japanese concession, there are Japanese town houses in the form of 'Machiya'. Kwandong Gallery is one of them. When viewed from outside the building, six two-storey buildings are placed side by side, and it is an unusual townhouse with a common courtyard behind the building.
"The house lives longer than people. From the 1920s to the 1930s, many people have gone through this house. Every time I tear off the ceiling and find a hidden space, I feel like breathing with a long time. It's a pleasure that you can't enjoy in an apartment. . "
Gwandong Gallery before construction
The attic provided on the second floor of the exhibition hall is a space where you can feel the excitement of reproduction. During the work of dismantling the ceiling, I found that the girder was connected from next door to next door. The secret space, which had been hiding for nearly 90 years, was renovated into a loft library where anyone can sit and read books after a minimal fee.
2nd floor exhibition hall and attic to guess the age of the building
Most of them are modern history books of Korea, China, and Japan, collections of photos, and books related to art. The more you look back and forth, the more attractive it is to see the invisible place and the charm of the wooden architecture and the sense of modern recycling of the old space. It is the result of revealing and utilizing the old and flawed parts rather than covering them.
2nd floor exhibition hall and attic to guess the age of the building
There is a bright space behind the prop shop on the first floor. This is a drawing room and guest room that has been converted from an old kitchen.
Reception room and guest room
Walls with peeling paint, old water pipes, and windows facing a 100-year-old stone wall seem to have a long story.
Reception room and guest room
The accessory shop on the first floor is full of vintage objects from various regions such as Japan, China, and Zimbabwe. Even the props, such as a 100-year-old travel bag and old wooden dolls, that the enema couples had directly obtained from Yanbian, resemble this space.
When entering the gallery, the first prop shop that greets you
Travel information
Fatal
-Address: 96-2 Sinpo-ro 27beon-gil, Jung-gu, Incheon
-Opening hours: 11 am to 10 pm / Closed on Mondays
-Menu: sweet red bean porridge, red bean shaved ice, Nagasaki castella
-Inquiries: 032-777-8686
※ The above information was updated in June 2019, and may be changed later, so please check before you travel.
※ Information, such as text, photos, and videos used in this article, is copyrighted by the Korea Tourism Organization, and unauthorized use of the article is prohibited.