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Korea's traditional houses, hanok, are one-story affairs with heavy tiled roofs
and distinctive rafter designs. These houses may not have been very energy-efficient,
but at least the long eaves gave them something of a passive solar design -- the low
winter sun help heat the interior, but the roofline shaded out the higher summer sun. They were heated with the ondol ("warm stone") system. The flues of cooking and other fireplaces were led under the living space, heating the floors. This design is echoed in Korea's modern gas- and oil-fired hydronic heating systems. By the end of the 20th century, most of the hanok had disappeared. Except in historic recreation villages such as Hahoe Folk Village, they were replaced by yangok, modern western-style apartment buildings. This housing was built in large, practical blocks, and was thus more appropriate to Korea's high population density. It's generally pretty dull. Although there are few hanok left in the large cities, Kangnung and other smaller cites still have some older-style neighborhoods. There's also a small but growing fashion for wealthy Koreans to build new hanok (ironic, since in most cities the hanok are thought of as housing for the poor and elderly). In 1999 two designers who have studied hanok construction founded the Hanok Institute in Seoul, to promote this trend.
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