Korean cities tended towards a chessboard pattern of streets that was roughly gridded, with flexibility of plan and building placement (wooden buildings and open areas were conducive to moving around), and decentralization (with marketplaces and administrative and religious centers in every quarter).  The city dwellers developed many mores concerning the articulation of the street.  Shopkeepers used the street as extra display space; through repeated use they eventually expanded into the street.  The street was also the source of mud as a building material.

Korean farmhouses were generally not set up as walled villages, but instead the stone and mud dwellings were built near the individual farmers field.  Generally, the farmhouses were located on the hilly uplands so as not to take up valuable farmland.  By placing their houses to maximize exposed to the south, they could make the best use of the sunlight available.

The walls were generally made of wood, with thatched roofs, though stones were also used for the walls.  In the homes of the upper-class Koreans, the walls were not load bearing, so making heavy infill for the walls was unnecessary. 

Regardless of the status of the individual, any person below the level of the king was not allowed to have a house of more than 99 kan.  A dwelling of 100 or more kan was considered the province of the king alone.

To heat their buildings, the Koreans in Neolithic times developed a combined kitchen and heating apparatus called an ondol.  By heating the underside of the floor of their single-story dwellings, they could create an oven and a space heater, all in one.  Not that the floor was bare stone:  they were covered with a layer of pine needles and oiled paper.  It was comfortable to be seated directly on top of the heated floor.  Because the fire was placed beneath the floor, the stone floor was sealed tightly so that no smoke exited into the interior space; an entrance on the exterior of the house helped seal the interior space.  Interestingly, the modern homes use heated water pumped through pipes beneath concrete floors to gain a similar effect.

The Korean house of the Choson Period also required a solid wall surrounding it.  The word ‘solid’ is very important:  if a picket fence were put up, it was considered communal building material or firewood.  A solid wall, made of mud or stone, was considered sacred.  The wall blocked the view of the women from the neighbors; this was so important that if a man were to work on the roof he would warn his neighbors. The public life was considered the domain of the husband, while the private life within the home was considered the domain of the wife.  Climbing a wall was the signature of a thief, and so the Koreans went out of their way to go around to the gate.  Walls were made with dirt packed down between parallel boards, then covered in tiles; the construction process yielded a wall that was quite sturdy and could last for many years.