Denver Affordable Housing Challenge competition Honorable mention winner - Jongseung Lee and Habin Park

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce the Honorable Mention winners of Denver Affordable Housing Challenge competition – Jongseung Lee and Habin Park from South Korea!

Honorable mention winners

Please tell us about your company (when it was founded, where it is based, how many employees, etc) Alternatively, if you do not have a company, please give us some insights on your own professional/academia background.

We both studied architecture in Korea and the United States, and now work in different areas. One of us practices architecture, while the other works on climate and urban resilience in an international organization. Even with different roles, we share an interest in how cities adapt to climate pressures and how small, careful interventions can support that process.

We are drawn to overlooked urban conditions and to the question of how existing materials and traces can be reworked rather than removed. This approach shaped our thinking for the Denver site and its layered history of parking lots, mobility, and land use.

What does architecture mean to you and what is the role of an architect in your society?

The role of architects now extends beyond designing individual buildings and requires an understanding of broader systems and social conditions. We believe architects are increasingly asked to work across disciplines and to engage directly with what already exists. This means paying attention to the constraints of a place, understanding how people live there, and finding opportunities that arise from those conditions rather than assuming a blank slate.
We try to approach architecture with responsibility and with an optimism that comes from seeing how small changes can matter. Adjustments such as reusing material, reshaping a surface, or improving a shared threshold can influence how people experience their environment. When these changes accumulate, they can help cities move toward futures that are more resilient and more equitable.