Gwanjeong 3-ri · Jeonui-myeon, Sejong City
In 1444, royal riders carried spring water from this village to the palace every night for a king's failing eyes. Six centuries later, the village's own gathering room is gone, and its elders meet in a neighbor's front yard. We're rebuilding it, one platform at a time.
Then
In the winter of 1444, King Sejong — the same king who created the Korean alphabet — suffered from a painful eye ailment. He heard of a mineral spring near this village said to ease such conditions, and for over a year, riders relayed water from here to the palace by horse, station to station, through the night, so it would reach him fresh by morning.
The road through the village still carries that memory in its name: Wangeuimul-ro, "the King's Water Road."
Now
Gwanjeong 3-ri is home to roughly a hundred people today, most of them elderly, and the village's senior center — the community room where older residents once gathered daily — no longer exists.
In its place, a handful of villagers meet informally in front of one resident's house, without shade, without seating built for the purpose, without the room their parents' generation once had.
How it works
01
Interview the village's elders to understand their needs, and scout the site that makes the most sense for daily use.
02
Fund materials directly — wooden pyeongsang platforms, shade umbrellas, stain, a memorial plaque — and install them by hand.
03
A small gathering for the village to mark the space as theirs from the first day it stands.