Vernacular Evolution of Modern Commodity

This study explores three cases of modern Korean commodity of vernacular design: the Kimchi refrigerator, the rice cooker, and the floor heating system. A new perspective on vernacular design evolution as contemporary high-tech products of necessities is then proposed in a local context. The design of vernacular commodity for the artificial world is the topic of the book Architecture without Architects, by Bernard Rudofsky, written in 1964. It attempts to break down our narrow concepts of building art by introducing the unfamiliar world of non-pedigreed architecture. In equal terms, this idea can be adopted to modern commodity of product design area. For want of a generic label, we have called it vernacular, anonymous, spontaneous, indigenous, rural, and local as the casemight be. For Koreans it is a remote area formulti-national corporations or global star designers to design appliances and facilities related to life’s indispensable staples. Examples include the Kimchi refrigerator, the rice cooker, and floor heating system. Highly educated local designers are developing and commanding the design of local staples andmodern vernacular design projects, adapting series of professional conventions of their locality and paying substantial attention to what may be fashionable as well as useful for their neighbor customers.