Layers of Earth and Narrative: Bangjja Yugi Museum for Bongju Lee’s Korean Brassware in Mungyeong
photographed by
Jang Mi (unless otherwise indicated)
materials provided by
Studio Heech
edited by
Kim Hyerin
SPACE August 2025 (No. 693)
According to Gaston Bachelard, the earth (terre) is a material that stimulates the human primal imagination, imbued with a sense of playfulness. As can be seen in a child building their dreams with earth, earth is not an industrial material, but one shaped by human touch—something to be ‘made’ and with which to ‘make’. Heechan Park, an architect who sees ‘making’ as central to his practice, calls forth the primordial image of earth within the Bangjja Yugi Museum for Bongju Lee’s Korean Brassware. Upon entering the building modeled after a hanok, a traditional Korean house, visitors are greeted by rammed earth walls that resemble a cross-section of geological strata. Following this narrative, we traced the materiality of nature, the texture of aged walls, and the bangjja yugi (Korean traditional bronzeware) crafted over long periods. Editor
Interview Heechan Park principal, Studio Heech × Kim Hyerin
Kim Hyerin (Kim): What was the initial request for the renovation of the Bangjja Yugi Museum for Bongju Lee’s Korean Brassware(hereinafter Bangjja Yugi Museum)?
Heechan Park (Park): The Bangjja Yugi Museum, located within the St. Joseph Healing Village in Mungyeong, which spans 123,498m2 and consists of 13 buildings, was originally used as a storage facility and temporary exhibition space for the bangjja yugi works of master Lee Bongju. The request was to renovate the existing building. Funded by the St. Philip Eco Village and Mungyeong City, the goal was to create a space where visitors could experience and appreciate the works of Lee Bongju, who is designated as Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property. The Bangjja Yugi Museum is currently preparing for its grand opening at the end of the year.
Kim: What was the condition of the existing building?
Park: The original building had an area of 485m2 and a height of approximately 7.1m, featuring a roof modeled after traditional roof tiles and wooden columns attached to the exterior to resemble a hanok. This architectural style was commonly built from the post-liberation era through the industrialisation era of the 1970 – 1990s, exemplified by the Independence Hall (1987). While these buildings appear traditional from the outside, the interior reveals a steel frame with no supporting columns. I thought it would be nearly impossible for such a building to gain architectural value or to be a subject of serious discourse. However, the existing building was one that Lee Bongju and his family had built and nurtured over many years while living in the village, and it held a deep emotional bond for them. Our design naturally took the form of a layout where the existing building and the newly constructed volume would sit side by side. We decided to preserve the exterior of the original building entirely, which greatly pleased Lee Bongju and his family.
Interior view of Bangjja Yugi Museum for Bongju Lee’s Korean Brassware
Kim: What was your design strategy and aim?
Park: From the early stages of design, I carefully studied and archived Lee Bongju and his collection, with the goal of planning spaces suited to the function, scale, and character of the bangjja yugi works. It all started with the question of how to occupy and intervene in a space that had long existed and been used. Since we decided to preserve the exterior, it was intentionally excluded from the physical construction. Inside the existing building, we placed two large volumes of earth and a circular staircase, through which new spatial relationships emerged. Without damaging the original building, this reorganisation of space brings forth a new architectural experience—mediating between old and new, ordinary and extraordinary, the architectural and the unarchitectural. The rough-textured rammed earth walls serve as a powerful yet subtle backdrop to the refined and beautifully crafted bangjja yugi works.
Kim: You mentioned that the spaces were designed to reflect the character of the bangjja yugi works. Could you explain how the characters were translated into the design?
Park: The way Lee Bongju creates bangjja yugi is closer to an expression of absolute art. Instead of melting metal and pouring it into molds, he shapes the material solely by hand through repeated hammering. I wanted the architectural background for these works to also be completely pure in form, like the bangjja yugi itself. The process of constructing the rammed eath walls, layering earth to create its form is mirrored in the way bangjja yugi is crafted. The new interior space of the original building is composed solely of local earth walls, structural laminated timber, and unfinished concrete and iron, revealing the raw physicality of the materials as they are.
Kim: There was a collaboration with Lee Kyubong (principal, AltCon Architecture Studio), who has upheld the legacy of traditional earth architecture in building the rammed earth walls. How did that collaboration play out?
Park: Lee Kyubong was actually a team leader sitting next to me when I was an intern at GUYON Architects & Associates. As a senior architect, he was someone I could barely bring myself to speak to, but once I decided to use rammed earth as the main material for this project, I envisioned collaborating with him. He has long been dedicated to earth architecture, having founded ArchiTerre with Shin Geunsik, who was also from GUYON Architects & Associates. After professor Shin Geunsik passed away, Lee Kyubong had distanced himself from earth architecture, but we met again through the Bangjja Yugi Museum project. The rammed earth construction method, where soil is compacted layer by layer, is a profoundly primitive building technique. The process of building by compacting earth, caried out by a team of architects who were also from GUYON Architects & Associates alongside Lee Kyubong, made us reflect on the fundamentals of architecture itself. In the end, we are all makers. The distinction between builders and architects is meaningless. Every layer is compacted with care and intention.
Kim: Architectural volumes were created by creating walls in a previously open space, allowing visitors to walk between them. A staircase was also added to introduce vertical circulation. Could you explain more about the overall circulation? What kind of intention did you have in mind?
Park: Visitors drift feely between the old (existing building) and the new (newly built rammed earth volumes), encountering Lee Bongju’s bangjja yugi works along the way. The passageways were deliberately set at 1.2 – 1.3m wide, neither too narrow nor too wide. As they move through these pathways, visitors sequentially experience spaces for religious objects, musical instruments, daily-used Korean traditional bronzeware, and a meditation space where they experience singing bowls themselves.
Kim: At the Arumjigi exhibition ‘Room, As It Is’ (2024), you created modular wooden-core panels, based on traditional finishing techniques. What aspect of earth did you investigate in this project?
Park: My use of earth wasn’t driven primarily by sustainability. Unlike the existing building, which mimics the hanok style, I believed only a structure formed through pure materiality and strict construction logic could serve as a fitting background for bangjja yugi, a form of art existing on another level. In that sense, I saw potential in earth. I also do not regard earth solely as a traditional material. I constantly look for ways to apply earth in contemporary architecture and how it can be discussed within contemporary architectural discourse. Earth is not a material I had studied extensively before. Rather, I considered it one of the most suitable materials for this project, and so I explored its potential. Historically, earth has been deeply rooted in Korean architecture, from the wooden core walls between the columns of a hanok, to earthen walls, and the earth covering the traditional heating system. Earth is deeply intertwined with the Korean way of life and our emotional bonds. Now that global warming has become a threat, I believe we are living in a time when relying on concrete without much thought is increasingly seen as an unsophisticated approach for architects. rammed earth involves an extended process. Through the long journey of selecting and preparing local soil for rammed earth, I wanted to rediscover the fundamental joys and lessons of building.
Building A level 1, exhibition space for religion and musical instruments
Building A level 2, exhibition space for bangjja yugi used in daily life
Kim: Could you explain in detail the construction process of a rammed earth wall?
Park: The process begins with sourcing earth that contains a suitable amount of clay for the rammed earth. Each region has its own characteristic soil colour. For example, Gangwon-do’s earth tends to be darker and southern regions’ often have brighter colours. Generally, earth with a clay content of 15 – 20% is considered suitable for this method. In Korea, the clay content is usually about 10 – 15%, but fortunately, the earth in Mungyeong contained the right amount. Once the earth is selected, impurities are removed, and its moisture content is adjusted. A small amount of lime or cement is sometimes added to enhance the stability of the rammed earth walls. After that, formwork is constructed on-site, similar to that used for concrete. It’s crucial to design sturdy formwork that can withstand the lateral pressure generated by the vibration of the rammer machine and ensure efficient construction. After placing the earth into the formwork, it is compacted using the rammer machine, layer by layer. For the Bangjja Yugi Museum, we proposed a formwork system combined with a glulam wooden structure, which served both as the framework for the rammed earth walls and as a structural framework. The curing period generally takes more than a month, during which time the rammed earth walls gain solid compressive strength.
Kim: What are the differences between a typical earthen wall and the rammed earth method used in this project?
Park: The walls of a hanok are usually built with traditional Korean wooden core walls. However, the rammed earth has also been used historically within traditional Korean architecture, with the todamjip (traditional Korean earthen-walled house) as a representative example. What is interesting is that both Eastern and Western cultures have historically used earth as a building material through remarkably similar techniques. For instance, the traditional Korean wooden core walls method corresponds to the Wattle and Daub technique that has been widely used in Western Europe. What differed in this project from traditional rammed earth was that almost all the work was completed indoors. Since the construction of rammed earth is highly susceptible to weather conditions, it is typically difficult to carry out during the monsoon season. This is because the moisture of the earth must be precisely controlled when pouring it into the formwork. Compacting the earth within the exisiting structure minimised the impact of the weather, enabling construction to proceed more smoothly.
Kim: There is a perception that rammed earth walls are structurally weaker compared to other building materials.
Park: Rammed earth walls have high compressive strength. When reinforced with rebar inside the wall and combined with the addition of cement, their compressive capacity becomes even stronger. Of course, they cannot be expected to have the same tensile strength as reinforced concrete.
Kim: What are the advantages of rammed earth walls?
Park: Compared to concrete, earth is a more sustainable material. The process of building rammed earth walls using local earth and labour is a way of rooting the construction in the community and the environment. Earth walls keep the space well-insulated and naturally balance moisture, which helps maintain comfortable humidity levels. As can be experienced in the Bangjja Yugi Museum, they also have outstanding sound absorption qualities. Of course, I would not say that earth is absolutely better than concrete, and such comparison doesn’t mean much to me. However, within Korean culture and history, earth carries a certain emotional connection, which may be special.
Kim: While modern architecture using earth is becoming more common overseas, there are still relatively few examples in Korea. What are your thoughts on the future of earthen architecture in Korea?
Park: I sometimes question whether earth can be an efficient and reasonable building material in harsh climates like Korea, where the temperature difference between summer and winter can exceed 40 degrees. I believe more thought is needed on how earth will respond over time and how sustainable it will be when used on the exterior. This is where the project is special. The existing building provides insulation and protects the interior from external climate conditions. Regardless of the harsh climate, we were able to explore how locally sourced earth could be used as a building material and what kinds of textures it could express.
Kim: Studio Heech has explored a broad spectrum of themes in past projects. What kinds of values did the studio explore in this project?
Park: We believe that each project naturally generates its own story. The story inevitably leads to research into a specific material. I don’t start out with a particular material in mind, and I don’t wish to be defined as an architect known for repeatedly using specific materials. With each project, a new story comes to mind, accompanied by research into different materials. This project was completed in collaboration with senior architects Lee Kyubong and ArchiTerre, who physically practiced rammed earth by compacting layer by layer. The lighting, handrails, furniture, and sculptural elements within the space were all created in collaboration with Lee Bongju and his son Lee Hyeonggeun, who is the successor of bangjja yugi craftsmanship. This made the project more significant.
Building B, experiential space with sitting bells for meditation
You can see more information on the SPACE No. August (2025).
Heechan Park
Heechan Park studied architecture in Seoul and London, and was recipient of Bartlett travel scholarship to travel to Finland and study the work of Alvar Aalto in 2010. He also obtained the RIBA qualification in the U.K.. He founded Studio Heech in 2018 and is carrying out projects in the fields of architecture, industrial design, fabrication, and digital interaction. He was invited to exhibit his work at the Royal Academy in London in 2014. He received, KIA (Korean Institute of Architects) Award (building of the year 2020) for the Sanyang Brewery in 2020 and Today’s Young Artist Award presented by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2022. Studio Heech was shortlisted for Architectural Review’s Emerging Architects in 2023. He at the has exhibited Time for Trees as an artist for Korean Pavilion, 2025 Venice Biennale.
