Bakmunsa: the first reinforced concrete Buddhist temple in colonial Korea- architectural expression of colonialism and permanence

This study examines Bakmunsa, the first reinforced concrete Buddhist temple in colonial Korea, as a critical architectural site that exemplifies the intersection of political ideology and religious architecture. Constructed in 1932 as a memorial for Itō Hirobumi, Bakmunsa was designed not merely as a religious facility but as a space to facilitate Japanese-Korean assimilation and legitimize Japan’s colonial rule. Drawing on archival sources, historical documentation, and architectural analyses, the study investigates the temple’s affiliation with the Sōtō Zen sect, its adoption of the medieval Zenshūyō style, and the innovative application of reinforced concrete construction. Although the temple’s architectural language visually blended Japanese and Korean elements, its underlying planning, spatial composition, and choice of materials explicitly reflected the broader political agenda of the colonial government. This study thus argues that colonial religious architecture was not merely a site of cultural exchange but a deliberate, material manifestation of imperial ideology. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how architecture functioned as a tool of colonial governance in early 20th-century Seoul.