Buddhism, which originated in the northern region of India approximately 2,600 years ago, was introduced to the Korean Peninsula about 1,600 years ago. Ever since, the Buddhist culture has flourished throughout the history of Korea and has become part of our lives. In addition, a great number of existing traditional architectural heritage are traditional Buddhist temples according to various statistics and cases. Traditional architectures are classified into palaces, government offices, temples, Confucian academies and civil architectures. Among these, temples are continuously being repaired, reconstructed, restored and newly established nationwide even to date. The majority of other traditional architectures, except for temples, are not used in real life and only used as attractions where tourists visit only for a short duration of time. On the other hand, temples are actively used as both a religious facility for various Buddhist rites (service, Zen meditation, sermon, etc.) and a recreational facility that provides ‘temple stay’ service for many people who seek to connect with the mother nature through meditation, education and rest. The usages of Buddhist temples appear to remain the same way in the future.

To date, the traditional temples have been the subject of study in the academia under two classifications: traditional temples and modern downtown temples. Numerous academic papers and books have been published based on studies. However, according to the investigation conducted in this study, it requires to be newly noted in this aspect that recent economic, social and cultural developments throughout the industrial era since 1960s have led to establishment of temples based on economic wealth. This has given rise to a trend of large-scale Buddhist temples. This is considered to be the combined result of the wishes of founder or donator and desires of the general public . In addition to the trend of large-scale temples, colossal statute of Buddha are often installed outdoor to raise the faith of the believers’ of Buddhism as well as tourists, while attracting interest and providing great views at the same time.

In this context, this study aims to develop improvement plans by identifying problems that occur during the construction process of temples (site layout, axis, path of movement, parking lot system, etc.). In addition, it aims to examine the characteristics, process of layout changes, and path of movement in relation to installation of outdoor colossal statutes of Buddha that are seen in many temples, including the primary study subject of Gagwonsa Temple in Taejosan Mountain, Cheonan. It is expected that the study will enable a more efficient management and development of traditional temples, and thereby increasing the value of such traditional and cultural heritage. In addition, the study aims to confirm that traditional Buddhist temples are the evidential architectures of true value and sustainability of environmental-friendly architectures, the concept that has recently become popular.