SPACE April 2025 (No. 689)
I AM AN ARCHITECT
‘I am an Architect’ 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.
A Love Match Between Kong & Ha (Not Lover)
Kim Bokyoung (Bokyoung): What is the meaning of the name of Kong & Ha?
Kim Hyebin (Kong): Since high school, my nickname has been ‘Hye-Kong’ (kong means ‘bean’ in Korean). My colleagues at work also used to often call me by that name. And since Jingu’s last name is Ha, it became Kong & Ha.
Bokyoung: When I think of Kong & Ha, I immediately think of being in a pleasant mood and of pastel pink tones.
Kong: These associations actually derive from one of Kong & Ha’s internal projects. We collaborated with designers to create a business card that isn’t just in a typical card format but something more practical and usable. When we commission the design of a non-card style business card, along with merchandise, we give designers full reign, telling them that they can go maximal or make it as flashy as they want. This means that they enjoy the design process.
Ha Jingu (Ha): The first items we made were tissue boxes and t-shirts. After those ran out, we made cheering fans and scarves. Later, we also commissioned the design of card-style business cards as we felt the need for them.
Kong: Initially, we planned to commission different graphic designers each time but we ran out. And this time, we made way too many cards.
Ha: Everyone here today has to take one! (laugh)
Bokyoung: Pink tennis balls are also an important symbol of Kong & Ha, right?
Ha: If you take a look at our website, the mouse cursor is a tennis racket. You can hit floating hearts with the racket like tennis balls. (laugh) The website layout is also a tennis court. The website desinger, Team Chopstix, asked us to provide five keywords tha...
