SPACE December2025 (No. 697)
Slow Clay Studio(2024)
DIALOGUE Cho Yoonhee principal, GUBO Architects × Hong Jihak professor, Chungnam National University × Lee Sojin principal, Leeon Architects × Lee Joongwon professor, Sungkyunkwan University × Kim Jeoungeun × Bang Yukyung
GUBO’s Way of Working
Kim Jeoungeun: After returning from studying abroad, the two of you founded GUBO in 2015 and have worked together for a full ten years. I’m curious about how you’ve collaborated, whether your roles are distinct, and if there have been any changes in your responsibilities.
Hong Jihak: We usually manage to come to agreements well, so since the office opened, we have discussed every decision together. Designers tend to be independent by nature, but because I trusted Cho completely – enough to discard my own ideas if Cho rejected them – coordination was possible. When I joined the university, things gradually changed. Some office matters require immediate responses, so Cho mainly handles time-sensitive tasks, while I take on planning works that aren’t constrained by timing.
Cho Yoonhee: Nowadays, after Hong organises the planning in the early design stage, I mainly handle the execution and supervision to ensure it is realised well. Our tasks are separated, which reduces conflict.
Hong Jihak: Since Cho handles the challenging work on-site, I take a larger share of design competitions, whereas for private projects, Cho manages the post-delivery process.
Lee Joongwon: That might explain why, when asked to pick memorable projects at the end of the tour, your answers differed. Hong chose Sinteuri Playground, while Cho picked Slow Clay Studio. Each of you seems to value different aspects.
Cho Yoonhee: Hong particularly likes Eco-Space Yeonui and Sinteuri Playground from our joint projects. Perhaps he chose them because they realised the architectural order he values.
Hong Jihak: That’s an accurate analysis! I spend a lot of energy on the abstract, conceptual stages, so I care about the completion of that aspect. Sinteuri Playground was the project I worked on most intensively and also felt the greatest sense of accomplishment after completion. Unlike me, Cho interacts more directly with clients on site, so she tends to feel more attachment when the project’s dynamic energy satisfies her.
*You can see more information on the SPACE No. December (2025).
*Subscribers can browse through E-Magazine right now. >> Available Here
Cho Yoonhee
Cho Yoonhee has been working in architectural design since she co-founded GUBO Architects in 2015. After graduating from the Department of Architecture at Seoul National University and MIT, Cho built her career at IROJE architects & planners in Korea and Höweler + Yoon Architecture in Boston, U.S. Cho’s interest lies in building urban cities from the pedestrian perspective of an average person. She has worked as a Public Architect for Seoul Metropolitan Government and won the Korean Young Architect Award organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2021.
Hong Jihak
Hong Jihak, after periods of research and building his career at SAC International, HAEAHN Architecture, and Center for Advanced Urbanism (CAU) at Boston, co-founded GUBO Architects in 2015. Hong studied Architectural Urbanism at MIT and received his PhD on the theory of Architectural History at Seoul National University. Hong is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at Chungnam National University.
Lee Sojin
Lee Sojin, architect and urban designer, graduated from the Department of Architectural Engineering at Yonsei University and continued her studies at UPA 7 (Paris, Tolbiac). Lee’s first professional experience was at the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and she has completed a wide range of architectural and urban planning projects of various scales under the mentorship of her partner architect Yves Lion for 10 years since 1997. Lee now works as the Principal of Leeon Architects. She served as the appointed Public Architect of Seoul Metropolitan Government (2012 – 2016), and has received the Korea Young Architects Award (2012) and the Grand Prize (2014) and Excellence Prize (2022) in the Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards, along with numerous other public architecture awards.
Lee Joongwon
Lee Joongwon is a Professor in the Department of Architecture at Sungkyunkwan University. He serves as the President of the Korea Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and is a partner at iSM Architects. His major publications include What makes us Happy at the Apple Store? (2025), Story of Seattle in Seeing Architecture (2025) and he has authored six other books.
0
FRAME
Dialogue
GUBO Architects
Cho Yoonhee
Hong Jihak
Lee Sojin
Lee Joongwon
Sinteuri Park Indoor Playground
Bathhouse Iljuk
Slow Clay Studio
Aurium
public architecture
neighbourhood living facility
remodelling
precision
looseness
abstraction
concreteness
geometry
proportion
order
management
reality