Anarchaeological Expedition in Insadong

I saw this sign and I knew I'd come to the right place.

I passed by this small cat who seemed confident I hadn't actually seen it.

Still walking up the alley.

Another building that seems sealed off.

Heading up an alley with a skyscraper blocking the sky.

One more cat.

This was one of a cluster of Hanoks next to the site. This one was farther gone than the others, or at least the most exposed.

Following the alley.

Looking back the way I'd come at the various Hanoks.

Then I noclipped to the other side of the fence.

Stairs.

I'm curious why the soil was this colour.

This was pertty early on, as far as these surveys go.

The way down to a basement?

Lots uncovered.

Sticks were used to prop up ancient walls.

Looking back in the direction of Gwanghwamun, where several other buildings stood on places where sections of Pimatgol had been unearthed.

A well.

They're starting to put down tarps.

I was trying to decide if these stairs were unearthed or created by contemporary workers. Probably the latter.

This hunk of materials stood up out of the ground, probably because they couldn't move those power boxes on top yet.

I followed along this wall, careful where I stepped. These may have been the trees that had been uprooted since my previous visit almost a year earlier.

Not sure though.

There was extra attention to this section.

Another view of the power box albakgi.

This stone was propped up with two wooden stakes, making it look sort of like a walrus.

I took this just to contrast the two eras.

Another look.

Another another look.

Lots of little tree stumps.

I'm curious why they wrote numbers across those pieces. Maybe for removal and reassembly later?

Here's a cross-section of the earth at the edge of the pit. This is at least as tall as me. I like how there is a thick concrete crust, and immediately below that are carefully placed stones.

Turning around to go back.

An interesting view but this pipe is obviously not historic.

They were still knocking down one other building. Maybe there are still more to go.

Next, I went onto a roof nearby to look down. Seen here are the abandoned Hanoks I visited early on. My scooter is visible in the lower left, and someone is standing a little too close to it.

A slightly wider view.

And here's an overview that shows the whole excavation site.

Oh yeah, and that's a super pink moon.

Here's a more fisheyed view.

This is looking more to the right. That two-storey building with all the lights on is the site of the 2013 Insadong fire. It's possible to compare the sites with my post-fire pictures here. Many have been removed to build Centropolis.

Here's a very vertical panorama.

And a closer look at the still active alley through the Hanok cluster.

And there's a random rooftop restaurant.

I noticed another demolition site also in Insadong.

Some Hanok roofs.

I liked how that one building in the lower middle of this shot had that wavy exterior, but looking down from above it still has those blue Saemaul roofs.

Click for full size.

My camera doesn't look down well. This alley out back has been transformed into this weird little row of shallow restaurants with seating out front. It looks fun and ideal for pandemic conditions.

Here's a break area on the roof of the building I had rooftopped.

One more picture of the same view.

And one more panorama.

Then I went downstairs and found this exhibit in a corner of the lobby.

I'm at the exact center of Seoul.

The RAS Business and Culture Club had come here the previous month, although I didn't join them.

This is what the center looks like.

I went out to my scooter.

Around then, blue hour was really starting to come out.

Here's over by OB's Cabin.

I thought of going back up to the roof, but figured it would be too dark by the time I made it. So I went to the perfectly named "Replace" and got a pizza.