That was the conclusion. Students who lack the ability to express their architectural designs He or she is a lazy student. I think they didn't made enough preparation. Isn’t there a curriculum that spans four years? If you only do that you will be just one of 80 students who gaduate every year Other than that, you have to create your own curriculum. Hello, we are currently at Hongik University’s College of Architecture, Wawoo building. It's an architecture department building. We are here on the 10th floor of the professor's office. If you look down the hallway, the rooms both on the left and right are laboratories. The room on the left is slightly smaller in floor plan and faces north. The room on the right is a bit larger and faces south. Think about who has more seniority as a professor. When I first came here, I was also in this room My room has changed over the years gradually moved to the right. Finally, I moved to the room with the best view. There is one professor who is more senior than me in terms of years of experience. He used the room in the middle. but since he didn't want to move, so I came to this room. So when you enter the room, the atmosphere will be quite different from other professors' labs. I think the biggest reason is that I threw away lots of books. I wasn't this minimalistic before either. However, when I recently moved here, I threw everything away. Almost everything well, I still at least have some lights, and pictures that I like. The view is really good from here It's Sangsu-dong in front of Hongdae. It has a view that overlooks beyond Sangsu-dong and Yeouido The building across from us on the left is very pretty as its ivy changes colour depending on the season. This is the only model remaining, which I made during my college days. Even though it's all broken, I'm leaving one as a memento There is a camp bed. I slept here a lot when I was a professor in 30s. as I stayed up late at school I rarely use it now, but I am keeping the camp bed just in case. These books are mostly from my time at Harvard and MIT. The files below are from when I was in graduate school that we created while taking classes. While taking classes, you create files for each classes Instead of throwing them away, I collected them. This is from when I was at Richard Meier's office. It is a collection of detailed design drawings for a project that I participated in. So I printed it out at a quarter the size of the actual drawing book. These are things that are usually taken to the field and inspected there So here's the print This was my master's thesis at Harvard. It was submitted in abstract form. As you can see, <Modernism: Hybrid of Eastern and Western Cultures> It's in that book. The majority of the information is from <The Space Created by Space> Have them printed here This might be more interesting I took 4 courses in the 2002 spring term I think it was a liberal arts subject that I listened with undergraduate students. Harvard undergraduates. It was fun Building Text and Context This is a theory subject I was preparing a thesis back then there was the design subject. I took 4 subjects at the 2nd semester. These are the notes I took in class. There are things like this I think I studied quite hard in class at that time. I knew what I was learning when I was at Harvard. Most of my suggestions in Youtube Channel are all started from this studies I made this time A lot of experiences, classes, and conversations with students. Those stories that I shared with my friends. Those are the like 'seeds planted' in the 20s and 'sprouted' in my 40s I think so Yes, there will be Here it is My grades are not really... Ah, I wonder if I should reveal this To give everyone hopes and dreams... When I entered college as a freshman I thought I would be designing if I major construction engineering But in Yonsei University, it is associated in College of Engineering. In most case, they only taught chemistry, math, and physics. at my freshman year The grades were awful It was too different from what I thought of construction engineering So I was thinking if I should change my major to business Should I take a marketing class or something It was the Olympics during the second semester of my first year. The Olympics were in September. I think I first went to the university after the Olympics. Of course I thought we did not have to go to classes, during the Olympics. Then it turned out that it wasn't So during the Olympics, during that period my GPA was 1.9 in the second semester of my first year. It's really absurd In the first semester of the first year, it was like 2.19 which was really ridiculous But after the winter break of the first year, I need to go study abroad From then on, I came to my senses and studied. So I have got 3.68 out of 4.0 I was the head of the department. So I think I really came to my senses at this time. At that time, the architectural design was only 3 credit class This is really a nonsense actually If you look at it with the time and effort you give in, it's almost 20 credits for real Then think about it while taking 9 subjects taking 10 midterm and final exams. and then you have to design it with the remaining time. That's really about 20 credits. As far as I'm concerned, out of 80 students about 10 students worked hard on the design. and the remaining 70 almost did nothing. Those 10 students were actually "all-in" to designing. and as I had to go study abroad, I had to design and also get good grades. It was a difficult time. During the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years I think I did quite well I got mostly a bit under 4.0 and fortunately, I got higher than 3.0. Yes, at the time, it was out of 4.0 Don't film it that detaily This is not my painting It is Richard Meier's Dom Pérignon requested to Richard Meier to design the box The idea was to make just 100 boxes as a limited edition. This is what I created as a sample My role was to go to the shop and bring 6 bottles and try making this molding Test if it is able to be made I brought these things that could be considered trash like one of the several sketches and things that broke and failed during testing As a memorial As you came on to the 10th floor I'd like to show you a place I'm proud of. The best spot in our Hongik University Wahwoo building is at the men's restroom. So if you look over here, originally, this film paper wasn't attached but I added it again and often we leave it open like this. If you look out from here, while taking a pee, the view is amazing. So this is my favorite spot. This time, I would like to talk about college life in general. as the filming team requested about it I don't know if I'm qualified to say that. but I am saying that it would be okay to live in this way This is something I also told to my son Also to my students. So I am going to share that with you guys Actually, I don't know if I should tell you this. When I first came to university, in order to make a soft landing in the korean society That was the main reason actually I got my American architect license there and came back to Korea. But I have a wife and children. and I opened an office to become an architect that I wanted to be, which actually means the same thing as being unemployed. Well, no one gives works to do As I am a person who has not been in korean society for 11 years, I didn't have any connections with anyone There won't be anyone who would trust me and say 'Take in charge and run this project' This won't happen Actually, the first thing that was most important was I needed money for my living stable income for living Secondly, I needed a title that can give reliabilty to prospective builders. My job as a professor at Hongik University was prominent enough to prove my credit I am thankful for Hongik university because it was the first case to allow a professor to open his personal office As far as I know, that was the first case in Korea. But the majority of university professors in the U.S. were already doing that Well, a great architect like Stephen Hall, was a professor at Columbia University, while working on his own work Same with Remment Koolhaas So, I thought it would be great to do in that way while teaching. Isn’t university very attractive? There's always youth here You can also try new experiments and be open minded This space was attractive to me But it was better than what I thought it would be as a professor after teaching students What I'm talking about is that I started teaching young students when I was 36 At that time, I was like an uncle next door for students and my thoughts on architecture were also not complete But as I taught my students, my thoughts became complete I think my thoughts have been organized a lot. The writing that I started in earnest was the book <The Flow of Modern Architecture>, which is about what I have explained in lectures and the book like <Humanities and Architecture Planning> is written, after developing further with it All of those things end up creating books like <What Does a City Live On> I think it was a really good opportunity for me to work as an architect and at the same time as a professor I think education's biggest goal is not about acquiring knowledge. Through that knowledge, the frame that you should get is your frame and perspective to see the world is the most important thing So I think to get those things, you have to give efforts in your college life Anyone who doesn't start doing it from their college life, they won't acheive anything even after their deaths If you start then I think something will be created in 30 years. To do that, I think you need to have your own curriculum. When I was at university, I thought when I entered the Department of Architectural Engineering at Yonsei University, Isn’t there a 4-year curriculum there? I considered that as just basic subjects If you only follow that and do that, you are just one of the 80 students that graduates from Yonsei University 80 graduate students that pour out every year You'll be just one of those people. I thought that I needed to create my own curriculum, other than what was given I didn't read that much books during the semester but still, I tried to read books that interested me. When watching a drama or a movie, I tried to interpret it on my own way It was the thing that was continued in my 30s and 40s I think it's something I've been doing all along. A good student, when the professor criticizes him or her, they react quickly and follow those advices That's what I tell my students No matter what the professor says, a great student would not listen to it and go on their own way Then, at the end of the semester, that student will give the professor a surprise Such students are defined great students So I hope you guys also become a great student That's what I usually say There are students like that. oh, what a brilliant idea or wow, thats such a cool shapes and drawings There are students who come up with these things. So, I think it would be nice to become someone who can surprise the professor Not a student who listens well When I teach major subjects, I teach designing subjects. This designing subject is composed all with assignments. I take the lecture twice a week. That means I will be meeting the student with only 2 or 3 day period of time So I watch how much this student has developed that idea over the course of two or three days Did he come up with reasonable and persuasive ideas to others? Does it make a story or not? I consider these kinds of points How much information did he prepare to convince me? The student I hate the most is who did not prepare and talk without anything Then I would ask "Are you a civil servant?" "Who's going to work if you just say it out loud" Are you the owner of the building? That's what the building owners do, not architects Architects have to persuade people with pictures, models, etc. But there are people who come alone and talk loudly without any preparation I hate people like that Now, I'm working with students who are in their 5th year. So there is another thing that I'm asking for Absurdly, there are students who are working on projects that spent almost whole country's budget. Why are we spending tens of billions of dollars to build this ridiculous building? Whose money is this going to be built with? How many people will benefit from it? Well, I criticize them a lot with these practical considerations When their grade goes higher there are students who come in with a design that is made as if they are the head of the local government I recommend students to participate in as much contests as possible in their college years. It's better to participate when you are able to because contests are all about training yourself If you are an architecture student, I think the university should be like a sports ground There are some teachers who assert that school should be fun and be like a playground I think that's nonsense. Life isn't like that. If you're only trying to have fun, it's not even considered as an experience. That would be just playing. But again, it is not a space where you fight like Battleground Sport grounds are where you compete within established rules. Schools should be in that way, in order to improve How can it be always great? Anyways, it's just a competition between students within the school. but the benefit of a contest is that it is a competition between different universities If you participate in an international contest, You compete with students from all around the world. In this process, you will learn something. Of course, it would be best if you went out and get the first place. Even if you don’t get the first place or a prize, you prepared with the same topic for 3 months, but the student from America, Britan, France, China prepared differently Or, if you participate in a domestic contest, Ah, that student from another school that I don’t know, Hanyang University students figured it in this way, a student from Hong-ik University figured it in this way This student from Yonsei University students figured it that way So everyone has a different solution to it Thus, you could learn a lot through those things But what was really fun in our time was that there were only two contests. 'Korean Architecture Contest', which nearly ends at November And after that, there was a 'International Student Space Architecture Contest', which was for students It was the Korean Architecture contest that every junior and senior students participated in Well, I really enjoyed it Usually, you participate when you are a junior as an assistance for the seniors and submit their graduation products in their senior year. Then, you will get to know the students who are talented in the country in that graduation year It's like a world martial arts competition There are people who became professors in Hongik University that I met from those competitions back then People I only knew through their works In the meantime, we learned something and competed with each other. So the more you participate in contests, the more greater chance for you to develop your abilities That's what I think. To be more precise, the reason that I partcipated a lot to it was because I was anxious about myself Do I have the talent to be an architect? I participated to it as I wanted to prove myself If I go out there and win an award then I was reassured about myself If your works are keep being rejected and elimated, just go try a competition that looks affordable for you I think it would be really nice, if you improve yourself through those opportunities But I don't recommend you guys to start working as a team when you are too young The reason is that you have to have the ability to do everything When you are young From then on, you should not be sharing the work For example. a student named A is good at rendering. and I only talk about the concepts and B is good at Photoshop You should not be doing that Even if you don’t get good grades I believe that it's right to do it all by yourself Isn’t my favorite comic book of all time is "Slam Dunk"? In Slam Dunk, there is a player named Shin Hyun-cheol at ShanWang tech highschool His position is center He shoots 3 points well, dribbles well, and capable of everything. The reason that he had all those abilities was because he was very short when he entered high school. So this guy used to play as a point guard and as he grew 10 cm taller within just one year and changed his position to forward Later, he grew even bigger and changed his position to center. So this guy is capable of everything such like dribbling, shooting, layups, blocking and etc I personally think that you should have those abilities in your 20s So you should realize that it is not your ability to win a prize, when you've won it as a team If possible, participate as an individual And develop those abilities through those processes I think there is something about teamwork that suits that age group. You can do it later when you go to the office. You can also do it, after when you open your own office. I believe that you should develop your abilities to all that stuffs in your early days Of course, in order to create a really good work, You will never be able to do it on your own. Michael Jordan, for instance, if he didn't have a rebounder like Dennis Rodman as a teamate, they probably couldn't have achieved the "three-peat" in their 2nd dynasty When building a real building, we need people like that. But you should try to not play in a team with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman from the beginning Yes, there isn't. I do not recommend it When I was in college, architects call it 'sida' which means that you get helps from the juniors below you I almost never got helps from people like that. I don't think I've ever used it. When I was in college I just did it all by myself. The only thing that I did was when I was planning my graduation product At that time, there were too many models to submit So, I received some help when designing my graduation product from the juniors Even when I went to MIT, I never received help from anyone. The same goes for the contests. I think I received help for about a day when I was at Harvard. My wife cutting and take caring of the trees When you are on a team assignment, if there is a person who doesn't do it, just feel pathetic for them. Because if you just do your work including his, you all become people who can serve as two people. That's how much your competency increases. Then later, when you meet really good teamates, You will be able to use your abilities even more. But if you want to think like that, you must be working in a field that you really want to be good at. Thinking that this assignment, I'm doing is not helping my career in any way. and also finding these team assignments difficult. Then of course it would be annoying. If it's my favorite field. Then, even if my team members don't work hard, I don't think there's any need for you to get too upset. You know, heroes fight 1v15 and things like that. and becomes a legend. The reason that I really liked the architecture department is because actually, now our country, Korea, is starting to become known overseas by such things like K-culture and other things And we've entered a period where Koreans are selling really well. Even when I was in college most Koreans' visions were confined to the Korean Peninsula. But fortunately, the Department of Architecture is a great place to convey your thoughts as it's not done with words, it's done with pictures and models. So the media itself transcends borders. So, if we talk from the perspective of a designer, those majoring in architectural design It has become a structure where we can always compete on a global stage. So I hope you guys to always think enterprisingly We always talk to our employees that your competitors are not domestic company A or B it's the people who are same age as you at Herzog & de Meuron's office Think of yourself as competing with someone over there at the OMA office. That's how I order That's the reason why I think this field of architectural design is a cool field. Yes, there are a lot. There are many people who go to study abroad. In the case of Hongik University without studying abroad, there are many people who graduate after the five year cirriculum and being employeed straight to famous global design offices. If you create a good portfolio, and as Korean people are quick handed Even when I was at Richard Meier's office My work speed was relatively quite fast than others When you simply just go to a regular office, korean workers are two or three times faster Of course, as your career progresses, there will be difficulties in dealing with or persuading clients, due to linguistic limitations And the things that earn the trust that lead to projects can be done in many ways There are some limitations between races. That's why I came back to Korea and thought I should open my own office here. Of course, even if you are here, you can advance to global companies. Rather when I was young, I was able to go anywhere around the world. The most difficult thing about studying abroad is about communication The linguistic limitation Because I still remember that as I cannot speak well Well, you have to pass with TOEFL scores or something like that to study abroad but it's just a test score It is difficult for you to persuade others in english than you persuading with korean What my professor always told me was that If I explain it with short English for a while, and also, as he is British I could barely understand the british accent he spoke. After explaining for a while he would say "Oh yeah, draw it and then bring it to me." He always said that. Make a model or draw a picture and bring it to me Also, compared to other colleagues, as I was much better at it, Korean people were much more developed at this So I think there was more communication in that direction First of all, when recruiting at our office, we select students who have the basic skills. Here, the basic skills include one's architectural designing ability, including the ability in expression I don't know if he becomes the boss later and only have to do sketches, but, anyway, we work together by collaborating together. There are roles that new employees must play. Then you have to be good at drawing, modeling, and rendering. Those abilities are absolutely necessary. What I have felt after working for about 10 years is that students who lack computer expression skills, which is the ability to express their own architectural designs, are a lazy students Because over the course of 5 years if he or she does not have the ability to properly acquire and express even one such program, I think they didn't made enough preparation. With such expressive ability as a basic, Design, of course, the code has to match ours. A person who designs in the same style as Zaha Hadid from Tadao Ando's office, it will probably be difficult to get hired. So, a person's designing style has to match the design style of our office. I don't think our office prefers people who design like Zaha Hadid Of course, we pick one or two people like that When you pick them, it will be a collaboration and able to create something new. But basically, it's for the sake of species diversity, why we are selecting such students. I think it would be a bit difficult to see that as the main thing. And at this point, we would like to select students who are interested in our office. Even for me, when I went to Richard Meier's office, During my college days, I studied while watching Richard Meier's works And I also did designing From then on, the DNA code started to match anyway. People who had no interest in me at thier college days and just applying because it’s time to get a job? Then of course, I won't accept those people to work for my office So those parts are very important And we want those friends to grow in our office. My ideal thought is that I want those people to work in our office for a long time. and continue to grow and develop. I hope that they will never leave the company and stay But there are also people who have different opinions and leave. So what I expect when they leave is that doesn't matter they make their own office or transfer to a new office, I hope the short period that they spent in our office or even years to be proud Proud that they could confidently write it up on their first line of their resume So, be proud that I have worked here I also always say that I worked at the Richard Meier's office proudly As such, something I can proudly say that I worked here On the contrary, 'I don't think it was worth it' Without saying anything like this, I hope the company could say something like that 'It was a very good company.' or 'The co-workers there were also very nice.' We try to hire people who can work together like that. We will end this session up here. See you next time.
