Lee Ju-hyun, an alumnus of the Department of Architecture at Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul), received an Honorable Mention at the “DBEW Award 2026,” an international design award. The winning entry is an architectural project that offers a modern interpretation of Koreans’ emotions and spatial sensibilities surrounding death. It garnered attention for rethinking the form of institutionalized memorial spaces and proposing a new spatial approach centered on the relationship with nature and sensory experiences.

The DBEW Award is an international design competition co-hosted by Kookmin University and the ADI Design Museum in Milan, Italy, under the slogan “Design Beyond East and West.” It has garnered attention for its unique approach of highlighting collaborative achievements between students and educators. Despite being held for the first time this year, the competition received over 800 entries from 44 countries worldwide.

Alumna Lee Ju-hyun stated that she decided to submit her work because she deeply resonated with the award’s theme of “Design Beyond East and West.” The starting point for this project was her experience of receiving five years of education in the Department of Architecture based on Western systems, while simultaneously developing a natural interest in Korean aesthetics from a young age due to the influence of her father, who majored in Oriental painting. Alumna Lee Ju-hyun explained, “Although architecture is a discipline introduced from the West during the modernization process, there were aspects of Korean aesthetics—which I have long been interested in—that were difficult to fully explain within that framework.” She added, “This project is a modest yet meaningful first attempt to fuse my personal interests with my major.”

The work begins with a critical examination of the institutionalized form of the columbarium. Proposing a spatial approach that achieves “fullness” through “emptiness,” the design removes the thick walls that enclose the cremated remains, leaving only the base and roof to actively draw in the surrounding natural environment. Furthermore, by modernly reinterpreting traditional funeral structures and programs—such as the “yeomak” (funeral pavilion) and “jangji” (funeral hall)—the project aims to elevate the nature of relationships surrounding death, rather than the physical space itself, to the essence of architecture.

The site is Yongsan Family Park, located near the National Museum of Korea. The design embodies a social proposal to reintegrate the space of death into everyday life within a location that possesses the dual context of isolation and being a park in the heart of the city. Furthermore, to ensure applicability to various sites beyond this prototype, a modular concept was introduced. Each element composing the “Yeomak” was designed to function independently while allowing for rotation and combination to form different contexts tailored to each specific location.

Regarding her future aspirations, alumna Lee Ju-hyun stated, “When I encounter a good space, I always look for the architect’s name first. This is because I believe the creator’s sensibility is imbued directly into the space.” She added, “I, too, want to become an architect whose unique sensibility is pleasantly reflected in my work.”

Professor Choi Wang-don of the Department of Architecture at Kookmin University, who served as the project advisor, commented, “This award goes beyond the achievement of an individual student; it is an example of an educational endeavor that bridges Eastern and Western sensibilities and ways of thinking to reexamine the essence of architecture, and it has been meaningfully recognized on the international stage.” He added, “In particular, this project, which explored the possibilities of contemporary architecture based on social context and cultural sensitivity, is an achievement that demonstrates the direction of the creative convergence education that Kookmin University strives for.”