An Analysis of Apartment Complex’s Main Entrance’s Architectural Expression Based on the Changes of an Apartment’s Social Perception

Abstract

© 2022 Architectural Institute of Korea.This study aims to analyze the transformation of architectural expressions involving an apartment complex’s main entrance and reveal the changes made on an apartment’s social perception. An apartment’s social perception was segmented into five distinct stages of time based on previous research that include the bourgeosify stage, commercialize stage, recession stage, differentiation stage and the intense-differentiation stage. Photographs of the architectural expressions of the main entrances were taken at actual apartment complex visits to use as data. The collected photographs were analyzed and placed into two categories: the physical forms of the main entrances and the apartment brand locations. The main entrance of an apartment complex’s physical transformation occurred when an underground parking lot was built due to the increase in vehicles and traffic in the area. For pedestrian safety, vehicle roads and pedestrian walkways were separated at the main entrance. The location of an apartment complex’s brand dramatically changed following the increase of social value regarding these brand-name apartments. Throughout the branding process, apartments showcased an ostentatious display of wealth due to the residents’ change in social perception of apartments. During the early 2000s to early 2010s, to satisfy these architectural expression changes, gate-shaped structures were installed at a complex’s main entrance during the differentiation stage. The gate-shaped structure not only functioned to separate the vehicle and pedestrian pathways, but also served as a display of a complex’s name as their prominent ostentation strategy.N