Architecture seems to be a foreign and distant displine the more one ponders upon it, to students who are about to begin their studies, those who have already begun, and even for those who are practising. Actually, it must seem daunting. Because as time goes on, the great impact and significance of architecture only gets deeper not only to those who are willing to immerse their lives in it, but also for those who currently are living with it and for those must live with the meaning of it all.

This book is for those prospective architects as well as for current architects, to serve as an opportunity to ponder and explore both their fundamental and trivial questions about architecture. During their interview, OPARCH advised, “for the designers who are just starting out, don’t fall into the illusion of thinking there is always a design solution in every situation. To be exact, design actually creates problems from the beginning.” CHA said, “Like an artist who paints a never finishing self-portrait, every day you must define a little bit more who you are in order to be capable of creating authentic architecture.”

I would like to borrow the words of the 19 current, ordinary architects to define who and what an architect is. Of course, these architects may only be a piece of the whole in painting the big picture of architecture. However, it is still meaningful to revisit where we stand in this piece of the puzzle and create more pieces ourselves.

1. 오랜 시간 동안 나는 건축가가 될 생각이 없었다
1.1] STUDIO GAON _ korea
1.2] Miha Volgemut architect _ Slovenija
1.3] b4architects _ Italy
1.4] SOLISCOLOMER _ Guatemala
1.5] MSB Architects _ Portugal
1.6] MAG ARQUITECTOS _ Spain
1.7] Architekten Martenson und Nagel Theissen _ Germany
1.8] Luca Nichetto _ Italy
1.9] Casanova+Hernandez Architecten _ Netherlands

2. 우리 둘 다 건축을 공부하게 된 특별한 계기는 없었다. 그저 그림 그리는 것을 매우 좋아했다
2.1] H&P Architects _ Vietnam
2.2] LANZ + MUTSCHLECHNER _ Switzerland
2.3] i29 | interior architects _ Netherlands

3. 나의 아버지는 뛰어는 건축가이자 나에게는 가장 큰 영감을 주는 사람이셨다
3.1] NL Architects _ Netherlands
3.2] BETILLON DORVAL BORY architects _ France
3.3] RICARDO BOFILL TALLER DE ARQUITECTURA _ Spain
3.4] OPARCH _ USA
3.5] Katsuhiro Miyamoto & Associates _ Japan
3.6] Miro Rivera Architects _ USA
3.7] MOUSSAFIR ARCHITECTES _ France

Epilogue