SPACE July 2026 (No. 704)
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? And how are architects in various regions expanding their own worlds in different ways? SPACE is going to discover individual characteristics of them rather than group them into a single category.
Interior view of U.GA architects
interview Yu Daewoo Principal, U.GA architects × Lee Sowoon
Environmental Conditions: Getting the Sense of a Site
Lee Sowoon (Lee): You founded U.GA architects in 2016 and have been working in Busan ever since. Are your designs influenced by the regional context of Busan?
Yu Daewoo (Yu): I believe that the environment is the most influential factor informing the design vision of architects. Some people describe the work of architects based in Busan as ‘excessive’ or ‘strong’, and I wonder if that is because the environment around us is itself so dynamic. Seoul has its own distinctive environment, Busan also has its own, characterised by the sea, mountains, and a rich variety of natural environments. Within that, there are also artificial landscapes such as Gwangandaegyo Bridge. Constantly surrounded by these elements, it is inevitable that they flow into our work, even if indirectly.
But it’s not only a matter of sensibility. In areas where land prices are high, such as Gangnam in Seoul, the profit structure generated by the land is different, which leaves more room to invest in construction costs. In Busan, land prices have a limit, and the construction budget is constrained accordingly. So, we are always negotiating how far we can go within a given budget. I hear that in Seoul there is extreme competion just to work on a new project, whereas in Busan the competition is somewhat less intense. (laugh)
Lee: What does the name ‘U.GA’ stand for?
Yu: It stands for ‘unique’ and ‘universal’. I wanted to create something distinctive for those who seek the unique experience while at the same time to devise something more broadly accessible for those who prefer the familiar. Interestingly, because people read it as Yuga in Korean, they often interpret it as ‘houses built by Yu Daewoo’. That interpretation is not wrong, but originally the intention was to embrace a wide range of design approaches.
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