Seokjojeon (Korean: 석조전; Hanja: 石造殿; lit. 'Stone Hall') is a former imperial palace building of the Korean Empire located inside the palace Deoksugung in Seoul, South Korea. The main building is a Western-style neoclassical château made entirely of granite and bricks. It was completed in 1910 as a residence for the Korean royal family and now serves as the Daehan Empire History Museum. The building also has an adjacent West Wing that was completed in 1938 and now serves as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung branch. The main building was originally meant to serve as a modern, Western seat of the Korean Empire. British people designed and furnished the building in Western style. Months after the building's completion, Korea was annexed by Japan. The Korean royal family continued to live in and use the building until the 1919 death of Gojong, the penultimate Korean monarch. Afterwards, it came to be used to entertain and house Japanese dignitaries. It was then made into the Seokjojeon Art Museum in 1933. Upon the completion of the West Wing building, both buildings were together considered the Yi Royal Family Art Museum. After the 1945 liberation of Korea, the buildings served a number of purposes. The main building was heavily damaged during the 1950–1953 Korean War and then repaired. In 1998, the West Wing was made part of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. In the late 2000s, the main building began to be converted into the Daehan Empire History Museum, which opened in 2014.
Description
Main building The exterior of the building is neoclassical in style and has Ionic columns. It is made of granite and bricks, with stone pillars and steel beams for support. The foundation of the building is made of concrete and steel. The building was designed and constructed using imperial units. The interior of the building has significantly changed over time. It was renovated a number of times over the last century, and has had elements added or removed. It is unknown when some of the changes occurred. As part of efforts to establish the Daehan Empire History Museum, historical materials were used to recreate as much of the interior as possible to match the original appearance of the building. Rooms for which there is no known surviving evidence have been turned into exhibits on the Korean Empire. The interior is decorated in the Rococo style, which was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. White and gold elements are used throughout the building. The original color scheme of much of the interior is reportedly unknown, as surviving photos are in black and white. In 2023, South Korean scholar Choi Ji-hye performed an analysis of the original interior decorator's other projects and determined that the main audience chamber was decorated with green curtains and carpet, in contrast to the current recreation's red. All of the furniture was from Messrs Maple & Co. The company was popular with royal and luxury residences in a number of countries, including Thailand and Japan. Maple later described their work in the building as "a characteristically English interior". The building has a total of 41 original pieces of furniture that date to the Korean Empire period. Some of the furniture are reproductions or antiques that were purchased. A table in the central lobby is original and is considered the most luxurious original object in the palace. It was kept in the palace Changdeokgung until it was moved back to Seokjojeon. The building features Western-style heating elements and lighting made by the British Crittall & Company. It has a number of electrified chandeliers. The main building has three floors: one below ground and two above. The building's main entrance on the second floor goes in to a central lobby (대광문; 大廣門), with an open ceiling to the third floor. Across the central lobby is the audience chamber (접견실; 接見室). That room's ceiling is in the Palladian style. The audience chamber had several columns that were removed in the 1930s at the latest, which later caused structural integrity issues. The ceiling is around a third lower than its original height due to support beams that were added after the Korean War. The room has large mirrors that were placed to reflect the lights and create a dazzling effect. It is decorated with plum blossoms, a symbol of the Korean Empire. The second floor originally had seven rooms (excluding the staircase rooms). The third floor originally had four rooms. One room was intended for use by Gojong; he never ended up using it and instead stayed in Hamnyeongjeon, elsewhere in Deoksugung. Instead, Yi Un used the room during his visits to Korea from Japan until 1922. The basement floor was used by servants. It is not known what the basement floor looked like; there are no surviving records on its appearance.
West Wing The West Wing is also in a neoclassical style. Unlike the main building, it does not have a front gabled section; this is characteristic of neoclassical architecture in the 1930s. It does not have columns or verandas on its sides. It also does not have any windows on the second floor. The lack of windows is reportedly due to the building's role as an art museum; natural light is instead provided via skylights that shine from above, rather than horizontally at paintings. The main building has a central hall that is open to both the first and second floors. Exhibits branch out from the central hall.
History
Background
The surrounding palace, Deoksugung, originally began as the residence of Grand Prince Wolsan and was only later made a palace in 1611 due to the surrounding palaces being burned down during the Imjin War. During much of the later Joseon dynasty, the palace was little used by the Korean royal family. After the 1895 assassination of the Korean Empress Myeongseong, the Korean monarch Gojong fled to the Russian Legation (which is near Deoksugung) in 1896 for safety. There, he experienced Western-style amenities (and Western cuisine from Antoinette Sontag). In 1897, Gojong proclaimed the Korean Empire and made Deoksugung his main palace. He then began work on significantly renovating the palace, Westernizing and modernizing its amenities.
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