AMERICAN HANOK

by Marc Choi


Hanok: A traditional Korean house; traditional Korean building

H Mart simultaneously occupies space within the built American landscape and the Korean American psyche. Usually the flagship business within a shopping center, H Mart stores often exist in spaces previously occupied by traditional American grocery stores. (Was this a Stop & Shop? Did an Albertsons used to be here?) Boxy facades, silhouettes of roof shapes, allusions to clock towers, decorative columns, and grand archways leading to sliding glass doors offer a different sense of comfort or familiarity—everyday American commercial spaces. Through a visual catalog of H Mart exteriors across the United States, American Hanok investigates how our understanding of identity, community, and home can be shaped by the commercial spaces that surround us.

By Marc Choi

Published by Track and Field

First Edition, 2023

30 pages, Digital Color, 8.5 x 11 inches