Statement

Challenging to Become a Better Architect

 I think of a building as a human body.  Human skin wraps the complex physical and physiological system of our bodies, just the way a building¡¯s exterior skin wraps various contents inside; programs, social ideology, cultural phenomena, traditional particularity, legal restrictions and many more.  Therefore it¡¯s complexity makes it unexplainable based on just simple logics or absolute principles, and my main interest in architecture lays on problems and questions that derive from its complexity.  

During six years of undergraduate and graduate studies I have carried on a series of experiments analyzing and defining the relationship of different individual elements that compose a building as an aggregate.  In other words, separating skin and programs from a building I studied them in detail as independent elements, focusing on their reciprocal relationship.  The original drawings from Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe so-called Masters of Modern Architecture were used as leading materials, and the studying of models composed of diverse materials untied new thoughts.  The trip to Europe in 1995 was a valuable personal experience that clarified and settled many concepts about architecture. And in 1996 I won the prize in the 15^th Korean Architecture Exhibition as a ¡®Special Selection¡¯, which I regard as a fruit of the studies mentioned above.  My Master¡¯s degree thesis ¡®A Study on The Spatial Characteristics of Volume-composition in Alvar Aalto¡¯s Architecture¡¯ in 1997 was also a continuation of the study I had carried so far.

After graduation I joined 'Heerim Architects & Engineers¡¯ which is one of the biggest design company in Korea, and I experienced in person the application and the limit of what I have experimented in school.  There I participated in numerous design contest projects, including an international competition, which showed me the limitation of my localized architecture realm, providing me decisive motivation to study abroad.  The Egyptian Embassy competition in 1998, due to lack of preparation time and low success probability, many counseled against my participation in it, but my stubbornness and positive drive paid me back with the honor of 1^st place.  Then I fervently desired to develop my architectural philosophy learning from world-famous architects, and compete against the talents from around the world.   

Two years of military duty was a long break for my architectural studies, but it was also time for readjustment and preparation for a new start towards another jump.  After the service, in 2002, I was provided with an opportunity to participate in an international competition, namely 'The Great Egyptian Museum¡¯, and right now I continue my research at 'Korean Architects Collaborative International¡¯ as an assistant manager.  I still desire to shed the regional architect badge, and become an international architect with a mature and wide point of view.  I firmly believe your M.Arch. program will be a great mean for the attainment of my goals.

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