SPACE December2025 (No. 697)
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 wooden pattern used to cast the flywheel of a press machine, collected from the Samyang Holdings factory as part of the Bucheon Sosa industrial complex research activities.
interview Lee Euijung principal, Architectural Regeneration Studio × Kim Hyerin
Preserving the Traces of Time
Kim Hyerin (Kim): Your office is called Architectural Regeneration Studio. That is a very straightforward name! (laugh)
Lee Euijung (Lee): I studied architecture in Japan, and later practiced at Naramura Toru Architectural Studio, an office based in the Traditional Village Kurashiki. Local architects there had formed an association called the Kurashiki Architectural Studio. Also, many people are not familiar with the term ‘regeneration’ and often think of it simply as home repair. So, when I founded my own office in 2015, I wanted to convey the idea of refining architecture as one would craft a piece of art, rather than merely repairing it. That’s why I added the word ‘studio’ to the name.
Kim: What are the differences between regeneration architecture in Japan and Korea?
Lee: In Japan, it seems that sentiments and values held from the past have continued to the present day. Like Korea, Japan also faced the problem of decrease in population in old downtown areas due to rapid urbanisation during its period of high economic growth, but Japan’s architectural regeneration and urban revitalisation projects were not carried out only for economic reasons. There was a movement, originating from ‘folk art (mingei)’, to discover and promote the value inherent in each region, which gradually expanded to include architecture and urban revitalisation. These were citizen-led movements focused on what should be preserved and left behind in their own communities. Korea, on the other hand, as policies were largely initiated by the government, tended to be operated rapidly and systemically, more like an industry, without local engagement. As a result, it was difficult for conscious local residents to part... *You can see more information on the SPACE No. December (2025).
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Lee Euijung
Lee Euijung is an architect who views architecture not as mere spatial design, but as a cultural medium that registers the traces of time and people’s memories. As the head of Architectural Regeneration Studio, he focuses on regenerating and documenting modern and contemporary buildings and local architectural assets that are disappearing, mainly in Incheon. Through community-based initiatives such as Dongincheon Explorer, Gyeongin Collective, and Juckso, he continues to share the interpretive role of architecture with the communities who inhabit these places.
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