Haneul Maru Observatory

Haneul Maru Observatory occupies a former private house, whose familiar volume was preserved beneath a new roof. Inside are materials about Gamcheon, and above is a platform over rows of houses running down the slope. From here, Gamcheon Port and Busan Port can be seen, and Busan Tower is visible on the mountain.

By twenty ten, vacant houses were multiplying on the slope of Gamcheon. Young residents were leaving, trash was piling up inside, and neighbors feared the abandoned premises. The organizers of the MiroMiro Alley Project wanted to bring these homes back into everyday life while also leading visitors deeper into the maze of streets. In former homes, they set up a photo gallery, House of Dark, House of Light, A House of Peace, and a book café.

For Haneul Maru Observatory, they took another residential house. During the reconstruction, they preserved its former shape, placed materials about Gamcheon inside, and created a platform on the roof, from which Gamcheon Port, Busan Port, and Busan Tower can be seen. The name Haneul Maru can be translated as “Heavenly Summit.”

The organizers made this house the final point of the walk. On the reverse of the map sold at the time, they set aside spaces for six stamps: a visitor passed through the converted homes, collected the marks, and climbed up here. For a completed map, Haneul Maru Observatory staff printed one photograph or sent a souvenir postcard. In this way, they encouraged a person to complete the whole route and then gave that person physical proof of the journey.

As early as the spring of twenty eleven, about twenty people came here on a weekday and about fifty on a weekend. Now the main reward comes right on the roof: the entire slope fits into a single view. Beneath the observation platform, the form of that very private house has been preserved—the house that the route's organizers decided to leave inside the new Haneul Maru Observatory.