KBDA
Project#:	2000-005
Recognition:	Honorable Mention
Name:	Kim Ok-gill Memorial Hall
Location:	Seoul, Korea
Completed:	1998
Firm:	Archium
Architect:	Kim In-Cheurl
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION:
Dr Kim Ok-gill was an educator leading the era of violent movement of Korea Modernization, occupying the president of Ewha Women’s University and the minister of Education. Dr Kim Dong-gill, her brother and the client for this work, hopes to reflect on her by building a small memorial building on the yard in front of the house their having lived together. There is the Hall on a lane in residential area where Yonsei University Dr Kim Dong-gill serving and Ewha Women's University Dr Kim Ok-gill having served stand face to face. She was unceremonious and preferred to distribute rather than possess. She was an intellectual in Korea. So it was a natural that her character was originated from environmental and cultural base. Therefore it is not so difficult to set up the tradition of Korean architecture as a basic concept of the Hall. Posing as opening to be sufficient rather than closing to be shut in, composition of the space permitted not to be separated intentionally inside and outside and the sense of exposing itself naturally rather than artificial beautifying are our traditional elements. In order to make today’s words with traditional concept, it is necessary to convert conception exceeding dichotomous structure like as closing and opening, having full and having empty, and making beautiful and making natural. A principle to be applied to the Hall is making the space free out of architecture. It is not to make the space with architecture but to put architecture into the space
USER ASSESSMENT:	Kim Dong-gill
For many years I had a dream to build a small memorial building in memory of the late Dr. Okgill Kim, who served Ewha Womens University for 18 years as the president. I personally picked up the famous architect and entrusted all the planning and building to him entirely, saying, “You are now going to be engaged in a very unique and exciting project. I will never say a word about your work until the building is completed. This is going to be your work, your masterpiece. Of course, the space is limited but don’t worry about money or time. There is only one condition. 300 years from now this building will be still standing and young students passing by should be able to stay, ‘what a fine building!’”. It took more than a year to complete this small building, and everyone says it’s a gem, a beautiful and useful artistic piece, it’s a monument. In this sense this is a fantastic building. So many students of architecture come to see and appreciate its surroundings. This could be standing in the Sahara desert or in the middle of the New York City. Harmony will be still there. In a sense, this is the work of a genius. I cannot say more. This tiny building males all of us happy.
JURY COMMENTS:
The architect of the Kim Ok-gill Memorial Hall have successfully balanced a quest for permanence and monumentality with a sensitivity to its tight urban context. The Memorial Hall is a very simple and eloquent resolution of the program and the creation of a spiritual space. The Memorial is not just a sculptural form to a personal statement but a solid yet transparent and engaging experience for all. It creates an architectural space for reflection for the residents of the community.