The reason why electronic billboards are increasing on Dosan-daero: Advertising revenue is included in building prices

When passing through the urban centers of South Korea, especially Dosan-daero in Gangnam, one can easily see the sight of brilliant LED electronic billboards filling the exterior walls of buildings. Through a recently released video on the YouTube channel 'Sherlock Hyunjoon', architect Yoo Hyun-joon pointed out that this phenomenon goes beyond simple aesthetic issues and is caused by a complex combination of urban structural and economic factors, emphasizing that there needs to be a public discussion regarding the situation where media information that citizens do not want is being poured upon them.

Vacant Commercial Facilities and the Spread of Unmanned Stores

The structure of urban commercial facilities is changing rapidly. According to the video, among the offices and commercial facilities that account for about 30% of the total urban area, the demand for offline commercial facilities has decreased by nearly half due to the rapid growth of online shopping. As leases for high-rise commercial buildings remain vacant, unmanned ice cream shops, unmanned cafes, and doll claw machine rooms—which have relatively low labor cost burdens and high space utility—are filling those empty spots.

In the past, facilities like health clubs were trendy, but these were also utilized as a means to solve the vacancy problem due to the advantage of being able to operate with a minimum number of staff. However, currently, amidst a trend where even walk-in customers are decreasing, commercial stores that cannot withstand the burden of rent and labor costs are being rapidly replaced by cheap, machine-centered unmanned stores.

The Economic Background of Dosan-daero Becoming a 'Billboard Heaven'

The architect defined the excessive billboard phenomenon on Dosan-daero as 'big pollution' and argued that in a society where media information is constantly poured upon you whenever you look up, the 'right not to look' should be discussed from a public interest perspective. The reason why there are exceptionally many billboards on Dosan-daero lies in its topographical characteristics and economic structure.

First, Dosan-daero has a low elevation, meaning water tends to collect, making it difficult for street trees to grow lushly. On the other hand, Teheran-ro has dense street trees that hide the exterior walls (facades) of buildings, which reduces advertising effectiveness. Because there are few trees on Dosan-daero, billboards are clearly visible, and since the route from Sinsa Station to Jamwon-dong or the direction toward Yeongdong-daero is often congested, the volume of through-traffic is relatively low; rather, this effect concentrates the attention of vehicles on the advertisements. Recently, as high-rise buildings are being constructed due to the relaxation of floor area ratios, cases of attaching billboards to the sides are increasing further.

A more decisive reason lies in the method of calculating building prices. Certain buildings on Dosan-daero even earn advertising revenue amounting to approximately 350 million won per month. The problem is that this advertising revenue is already reflected in the building's sale price. Because people buying buildings pay high prices on the premise of advertising revenue, once a billboard is installed, it becomes unfeasible to maintain business viability if it is removed. Consequently, a structural cycle has formed where building owners have no choice but to install billboards one after another.

Architectural Design and Technical Issues of Maintenance

The video also deeply covered the technical issues of special architectural design and maintenance. Buildings housing movie theaters require wide pillar spacing and high ceilings, so they must differ from general buildings starting from the design stage. In particular, because movie theaters have specially manufactured slabs (floor plates), such as sloped seating, it is very difficult to convert them to other uses once they are built. Recently, cases are appearing where programs that gather many people, such as churches, move into spaces that used to be movie theaters.

Furthermore, he cited 'waterproofing' as the problem that architects find most difficult. It is the view of experts that perfect waterproofing is close to impossible. In the case of basement leaks, a realistic alternative is to quickly drain incoming water rather than trying to block the water completely. Especially for external terraces, it was suggested that using the 'pedestal' method to leave gaps and induce drainage is an effective way to prevent the waterproofing layer under the tiles from cracking due to pressure.

The wisdom of traditional architecture was also mentioned. Examples such as putting salt on top of foundation stones so that the wooden pillars of Hanok do not rot, or soaking wood in seawater to remove sap when making the Tripitaka Koreana, provide important implications for modern architecture. In modern times, this is being supplemented using concrete foundation stones and metal connectors.

Lastly, the changing role of libraries was mentioned. If the library of the past was a 'storehouse of books' for acquiring information, the modern library should perform the role of a 'communal living room' where citizens gather and rest. Therefore, rather than a method of removing windows to preserve books, he emphasized that the priority in modern library design should be creating a pleasant, living-room-like space that accepts sunlight by utilizing UV protection films, etc.