Architect Won Jeongsu and Chi Soon ⓒGansam Architects & Partners Co.,Ltd
On Oct. 10, architect Won Jeongsu passed away at the age of 87. It has been 19 days since his wife and fellow architect Chi Soon (advisor, Gansam Co., Ltd.) passed away. After graduating in 1957 from the Department of Architecture at Seoul National University (SNU), Won Jeongsu served as an Air Force commissioned officer and experienced base architectural design. He gained practical experience in Trans Asian Consulting and Muae Architecture after his military service, and worked as a professor of architecture at Inha University from 1963. Chi Soon began working at Gujosa Technical Institute Associates Inc. and gained practical experience at Korea National Housing Corporation, the predecessor of Korea Land and Housing Corporation, for ten years. Later on, she widened her knowledge in housing reconstruction and apartment planning. As the first female licensed architect, she strived to support the extension of the rights and interests of female architects and improve the quality of public buildings, serving as the first president of the Korean Women Architects Association, president of the Korean Institute of Female Architects. The two architects operated a design office together, leading a lot of construction work. In the 1970s, they led Ilyang Architecture and completed projects such as Student Union of SNU (1972), Korean National Mothers’ Association Building (1973), Lucky Chemical Factory in Yeocheon (1973), and the Daejeon Catholic Culture Center (1979). As they co-established Gansam Co., Ltd. in 1983, they undertook various projects that involved large-scale office facilities and public facilities in the city centre. They participated in projects such as DongSoong Art Center (1986), Head Office of The Bank of Korea (1987), Yonsei Severance Foundation Building (1993), POSCO Center (1995), former Samsung Life Taepyung-ro Building (1997), and Daejeon Assembly Hall of Korea Teachers’ Credit Union (2002). Of those projects, POSCO Center was widely acclaimed as an intelligent building applying local area networks, the automatic control of indoor air and lighting, and office automation technology, receiving the Korean Architecture Award in 1995. Their funerals were held at Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral (Won Jeongsu) and Hyehwa Catholic Church (Chi Soon), and the burials were held at Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine.