Walking Haebangchon and Huam's alleys, you often meet narrow lots, tall retaining walls, and stairs that end abruptly.
A grammar, not a grid
These elements show a grammar different from the orderly grid of a planned new town. Each stair and retaining wall was built one at a time, fitted to that spot's slope and need.
An undesigned residential area
This neighborhood was not designed from the start — it is a residential area that settlers built piece by piece as needed. Walking the stairs and retaining walls while imagining the order they were built in makes this neighborhood look different.