ʻI am an Architectʼ was planned to meet young architects who seek their own architecture in a variety of materials and methods. What do they like, explore, and worry about? SPACE is going to discover individual characteristics of them rather than group them into a single category. The relay interview continues when the architect who participated in the conversation calls another architect in the next turn.
'02-04, The Spring Office Building', STUDIO Seungho + Baek Jongwoong ⓒLee Seungho
interview Lee Seungho principal, STUDIO Seungho × Park Jiyoun
Establishing His Own Practice
Park Jiyoun (Park): I looked at your Instagram before the interview and asked you about your architectural notebook, and now you’ve brought it along with you. It looks as if you made this notebook yourself.
Lee Seungho (Lee): These notebooks contain all of my notes from the lectures I attended, books I read, and design ideas from the time when I was a student. It is divided by semester, and if you look at the middle, there are also the signatures of domestic and foreign architects received when I attended their special lectures. (laugh) I bought cheap pieces of paper and ring bound them. At first, I only had paper of A4 size, but later I personally cut the pages to make it easier for me to carry them around and I also used different bindings with various types of paper. When making a record of ideas or sketching, there are times when you need a different type of paper. I took these notebooks with me to my first job interview because, with these, I can literally lay out what I engaged with during my student days. I worked this hard, I said. (laugh)
Park: You must have made the clear impression that you are serious about architecture. Have you subscribed to SPACE since you were in middle school?
Lee: My father studied so he chose the most competitive major at that time. And he wanted me, as his son, to also do that which he is really fond. This is the thing that I am most grateful for in my life. I think my father must have thought that, if he left me alone, I would become a painter for a living. Since he knew that making a living as a painter is quite challenging and difficult, he thought about what would be the middle point in my career with me, and that is how I came to subscribe to SPACE in middle school. I also went with him to many places in and outside of Seoul to see historical sites. Each experience piled up. Even when I was in the army, I asked the commander to subscribe to the magazine. Now it feels strange to be interviewed by that same SPACE.
Park: It is as if you anticipated this interview! (laugh) It has been about a year since you founded your own office.
Lee: I only make one long-term plan and do it slowly, little by little. By the time I graduated from college, my goal was to have my own office within 10 years, and I did it after 9 years. People tend to open their own practice faster now than before. Even though I was not in a hurry. Around the time I felt like it was the appropriate moment for me to start my own work, my youngest maternal uncle, an artist, said that he would like to build a studio-cum-house.
Park: You are currently working on about six projects, I believe. None involves participation in a design competition.
Lee: I did not consider working on any design competition project from the beginning because I still think that design competitions are not yet completely fair games. Most of my projects came into being through acquaintances. It is strange because I do not promote my practice actively. (laugh) These days, I tell people frankly that I am busy, but I think right now is the boom period for the architectural business.
Park: You are active in your profile on Instagram. Do you receive commissions through direct message (DM)?
Lee: In the same vein as my architectural diary, I kept a record of each day in my spare time without a specific purpose, but as they piled up I revealed my evolution. I have never received commissions through DM, but there is something I discovered recently. My clients check my feed before our first meeting! (laugh) I imagine they like to see what kind of person I am. No matter how good a project is, it is difficult if you do not share the same taste with the client, with whom you might have to work together for up to two years. Now, thanks to Instagram, the probability of that occurrence has decreased. I am happy to work with a client who understands my direction of living, my methods, manners, and tastes.
'02-04, The Spring Office Building', STUDIO Seungho + Baek Jongwoong ⓒLee Seungho
Building His Own Language
Park: Looking at the photos of ‘02-04, The Spring Office Building’, I was struck by how the hanging table works. Now I am sitting here, conducting the interview.
Lee: If you pull this hanging table upward, the space can be used as a parking lot, and if you pull them down and place chairs, the space can be used as a conference room and as a multi-purpose room.
Park: During the interview, you said Hi to an acquaintance passing by. Since it is a somewhat open space connected to the street, interesting encounters do appear to occur with frequency.
Lee: Since this building is private property, it cannot be used by the general public. However, I wanted to introduce the possibility of some unexpected moments to take place as people pass by. The horizontal space along the lower part is the most important element of all my projects. I also applied it to ‘02-02, Pardiso’. I wanted the building to act as a public good and to respond with sensitivity to its neighbours, so I worked to enhance that aspect by adding more layers. You can think of it as the same concept as those directing public, semi-public, semi-private, and private spaces that you learn when you were a student. Right now the conference room is placed in the most public area so that people can come and go easily. The adjacent lounge area was planned as a quieter and more private space.
Park: People passing by often stop at this building and say they would gladly host a conference in a space such as this. You have accomplished your goal. (laugh) I think we can continue talking about the term, architecture of five senses.
Lee: Once I visited the Water Museum in Jeju designed by Itami Jun on a summer day around sunset. Before the sun went down, there was something invisible in the space that was very warm and lively, and as it got darker, what was inside departed and a new sense arrived. It was like my hair was standing on end. At that time, I felt the architecture of this invisible sense through my whole body. I said to myself, ‘How? Why does it feel good? What should I do?’ and I thought about the five senses and synaesthesia. It is common to see only two of the five senses at work in the body, but with three of them working at once results in a kind of inspiration, and the four makes the experience of a space so much richer. It may not be suitable to apply it to all spaces. I tend to talk a lot with the client who will be the actual user. This is to give people the best and most accurate experience according to their needs while living and using the space.
Park: You mentioned that you are aiming to achieve a more classical architecture along with your architecture of five senses.
Lee: Since I am only at the stage of researching the direction I hope to pursue, it is difficult to explain clearly. However, classical architecture seems to have a sense of eternity and universality. For example, the sublimity and the beauty of the Parthenon inspire even someone with no architectural education. I want to create an architecture that will be loved forever, communicating a universal impression.
Park: I would like to hear more about the elements that you have experimented with in terms of classical architecture.
Lee: The wall of the conference room in which we are sitting now is composed of a door and a built-in closet, and the lines that embrace such a function are expressed as a frame that look as if they are supported by columns. Moreover, there are examples of gridpatterned windows that can be seen from the outside, and geometric rainwater reservoirs.
'02-04, The Spring Office Building', STUDIO Seungho + Baek Jongwoong ⓒKim Yongkwan
'02-02, Paradiso' ⓒKim Bubin
Responding to the Site
Park: It seems like there are a lot of photos taken on-site in your feed. The principals of Midday (covered in SPACE No. 653) also said that you seem to be the youngest architect working hard on site.
Lee: Every architect, other than myself, works intensely on the site. I have just been exposed to the media a little more than others. I was taught to visit the site frequently even if I was not assigned the role of a permanent supervisor. If you are very talented or have a lot of experience, you can work to a certain degree of perfection at the design stage, but I still find many errors to correct on site, so I make sure to make frequent visits to the site. That way, I am satisfied, and besides, it is also fun to talk to others and navigate the site.
Park: I assume on-site communication skills must be required. You have to compare the construction process to the drawing and plans to check if it is correct and to request any corrections.
Lee: I am much better now, but I was not very good at on-site communication in the past. The on-site principal chased after me with a hammer, and I screamed, smashed things, and got into a fight while asking the workers to remove a certain part, eventually causing the dispatch of the police! (laugh) There was a time like that. I could not understand why they handled such features in such a way and made changes without permission, and I could not stand it. Since I had spent all night thinking about every detail, and drew each line with such care on the drawing, I could not control myself when those parts did not work out well. Now I have learned, to some extent, to speak more cautiously and wisely. (laugh) I also tell them in advance where mistakes tend to happen. Then, shall we move on to our site in Samcheong-dong?
Park: Thank you for inviting me to the site of ‘02-06, Studio Divine’. Now that the concrete on the floor has just dried up, what percentage of the entire construction is now complete?
Lee: If we had spent one more day on the floor plastering work, we may not have been able to make today ’s visit. The current state is about 50% through the overall process. The construction work to restore the basic function of the building has been completed, and now the finishing and design are being further refined and adjusted. The insulation spraying process will begin soon.
Park: As I looked around, I saw sketches drawn on the concrete wall. Those must be the traces of the momentary explanation and immediate consultation on the site.
Lee: Since I have to make quick decisions while construction is in progress, I am always tense. That part is fun. It feels good to see that I have made a correct judgement on the spot when something that was made through an immediate judgement was realised correctly.
Park: You are so fond of architecture, but you want to pursue architecture as a secondary character after 10 years? I don’t buy that. (laugh)
Lee: Everyone tells me that I am lying. I do not want to become a star architect. I just want to keep doing this job while I still enjoy it. Then I think that it would probably be exciting and fun to do my job for just 10 years after I open my own office. After that, I hope that I can do only the projects that I really want to do with good clients, without begin too greedy about the number or scale of architectural projects. I want that to happen naturally, eventually.
Park: When you said that you would like to pursue architecture as a secondary character, you mean that you would only like to do the projects you want to. (laugh) That I can understand!
Lee: So far, my only hobby that is not architecture-related is listening to LPs. In the future, won ’t there be other interesting things besides architecture?
Lee Seungho, our interviewee, want to be shared some stories from Park Heedo (principal, HDp Architects) in June 2022 issue.
