The most representative characteristic of the Korean traditional garden is the harmony between nature and the building.
The boundary of the garden is not clear, the korean people didn’t want to make a clear boundary between the surroundings and the house. It meant they wanted to enlarge the boundary of the garden to nature.
The walls of Soshoe-won show us the most prominent characteristics of the traditional garden.
I mean, the wall could be said as the essence of beauty in Korean Architecture.
Unlike other ordinary walls, the walls in Soshoe-won actually had no function to protect from the invasion.
Anyone could enter into the garden, regardless of the walls.
Here in Soshoe-won, people, wind and water could come and go to the garden.
So there was no gate in this garden.
And there was only one gate in this garden building. The walls was ended at the unexpected place.
Anybody could enter into the garden.
In this garden, Nature, the wind and the water were the guests.
So, they made a place for the water entering into the garden on the wall.
Below are the place for the water
The empty place seemed for the wind and people.
In some case, the wall yielded its place to the tree.
The wall didn’t not fully encompass the garden.
So the wall of the back yard could be extended to the hill.
The wall of this garden had a completely different function compare to that of other buildings.
In my opinion, they tried to harmonize the artificial and nature.
The concept of the wall is the key point in Soshoe-won garden in my opinion.