Diachronic Changes and Factors Influencing the Exterior Design of High-Rise Apartment Buildings

High-rise apartment buildings, the preferred type of housing in South Korea, have very similar exteriors. Thus, apartment complexes tend to look similar with no unique identity of complex or city. This study aimed to identify the factors influencing the exterior design of high-rise apartment buildings in their 40-year history. I surveyed 50 apartment complexes from the 1970s to 2010, categorized important periods in Korean history, and analyzed corresponding changes in the exterior design of high-rise apartment buildings. I visited apartments in Seoul to take photos and conduct field surveys, and statistically analyzed the results by classifying the buildings’ external characteristics. I found correlations between the exterior design of the buildings and three major factors influencing their changes and development. The first is increasing institutional supply in the 1970s and developing landscapes in the 2000s. The second is an economic factor—economic growth. Third, as technology developed, apartment buildings transitioned from low-rise to high-rise, and their exterior design underwent many changes. This study reveals the relationship between changes in high-rise apartment buildings’ exteriors as they developed alongside South Korea’s growth and the influencing factors, and presents major factors that determine the direction of exterior design for high-rise apartment buildings in the future.