Workplace Reimagined competition Honorable mention winners - Wonbeom Choi, Eun Hyeok Park, Jihoon Sung and Tae Yang Park

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Honorable mention winners of our "Workplace Reimagined" competition – Wonbeom Choi, Eun Hyeok Park, Jihoon Sung and Tae Yang Park from South Korea!

Wonbeom Choi, Eun Hyeok Park, Jihoon Sung and Tae Yang Park 

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 are from Seowon University in South Korea, and we are very interested in social issues in Korea, and this competition brought together like-minded team members who were looking for an opportunity to express them architecturally.

Brief information about the projects that you/your company have been involved with. For instance, what scale have you focused on/preferred, any significant projects where the company/ individuals have been Involved?

We tried to approach the problem of young people leaving rural areas in Korea and the high percentage of elderly people remaining in rural areas as an explicitly social issue, and to do so at the most urban scale possible. Our solutions are not specific to this site, but are easily adaptable to many spaces in Korea that are under threat of rural decline.

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

I think that architect is not just a space that houses people's lives in society. I think that architecture is meaningful to enrich people's lives by solving various problems in their lives and trying to make them feel good. I also think that architecture is a great opportunity for individuals, such as us, to change the world.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

There are many reasons why we enter architecture competitions, but the main one is that it provides teams with an opportunity to assess their skills and teamwork before they graduate, allowing them to improve individually.

What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture competitions?

I think architectural competitions are a great opportunity for anyone who wants to explore architecture. It is a unique opportunity to compete with a variety of teams, gain a lot of experience and skills in the process, and identify and overcome the limits of personal skills and ideas. Therefore, I think it is a great opportunity especially for students.