SPACE March 2026 (No. 700)
Following its complete budget cut, the Korea Young Architect Award is now in a state of crisis. The award was initiated in 2004 as the ‘Emerging Architect Award’ by the Korea Architects Institute (KAI), and renamed as its present name as it was transferred to the oversight of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s (MCST) in 2008. It has run since then for 18 iterations. Hosted by the MCST and co-organised by the KAI, the Korean Institute of Architects, and the Korean Institute of Female Architects, the award provides architects under 45 years of age with an opportunity to compete for a Minister’s Award, prize money, exhibitions, and catalogue publications. Participating in exhibitions and catalogue publications is especially valuable for young architects who rarely get the chance to showcase their work and vision to those in the architectural community and the general public. However, it is now uncertain whether this award programme – which was celebrated as a festival for the architectural community and a platform on which to showcase the achievements of young architects – can continue to operate; its entire budget of 89 million KRW, which was used not just to fund the prize money but also to support the exhibitions and catalogue publications, has been completely cut.
Lim Hyoungnam (Chairman, KAI) who have overseen the award’s operation in, stated: ‘In 2024, the Ministry of Economy and Finance reduced the budgets of all departments. As part of this, we received notification from the MCST that the budget for this project had also been cut. Subsequently, after the KAI responded by communicating with relevant governmental bodies, the office of assembly member Kang Yujung (The Minjoo Party of Korea) expressed its support for the award’s goals and significance, concluding that the award’s budget should not be reduced but increased instead. Accordingly, it was resolved that the award’s budget would be adjusted into the year-end supplementary budget and increased. However, just before the supplementary budget was to be passed, a state of emergency was declared on Dec. 3, which led to the cancellation of the supplementary budget. We were then notified later that additional budget support could not be provided due to the fact that the supplementary budget was not passed, and that future support would also be discontinued.’ Following this, the KAI intended to temporarily suspend the Korea Young Architect Award for one year. However, young architects have continued to inquire about the award and requested that the programme continue. Consequently, the recent 2025 Korea Young Architect Award and its exhibitions were run with the support of sponsorships and self-financing from the architectural community and winners, and catalogue publications were produced through crowdfunding due to financial constraints. Despite being organised by the MCST, the actual operational costs were effectively borne by the private sector and the architectural community.
Lim expressed that this decision to cut not just a portion but the entirety of its budget regardless of the sustained high interest and demand from young architects reveals a sense of how the Ministry views the architectural community. He claimed that this decision from the MCST reflects not only its lack of understanding towards architectural culture but also reveals how the field of architecture is being ostracised and neglected by the MCST. He stated: While politicians repeatedly promise to revitalise architecture, there is no provision of specific considerations on how to actually invigorate it and elevate our nation’s architectural culture. Limited public awareness regarding architecture has also contributed to the stunted growth of our architectural culture. When compared to many other countries, the quality of architecture in Korea has not sufficiently matured. Architectural policies centered on construction, along with turnkey systems, PF structures, and public procurement systems, have been initiated mostly with the interests of construction companies in mind, reducing the role and scope of activity for architects who are contributing to architectural culture. In this situation, I believe it is too early to talk about winning the Pritzker Prize. Moreover, the Korean architectural community itself also needs to make efforts to elevate its standing. We must eradicate corruption in public procurement and design competitions, reinforce self-correcting policies within the architectural community, and proactively establish our architectural culture.’ He concluded by adding: ‘Numerous awards already exist in the architectural world. While creating a new award programme might be easy, maintaining its credibility and authority is difficult. And this authority stems from fairness. The Korea Young Architect Award has striven to operate fairly without external support, and this is why architects are still so eager to apply and are looking forward to it. The KAI is currently considering ways to preserve the award programme and not abolish it. We are exploring options like co-hosting with cultural foundations or like-minded companies, or forging connections with other government departments like the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.’
