Reference Line, Section, Sequence: OAR Contemporary Art Museum | Hyunjoon Yoo + HYP Architects
Hyunjoon Yoo, HYP Architects
written by
Hyunjoon Yoo, Jon Jiyoung
photographed by
Roh Kyung (unless otherwise indicated)
materials provided by
HYP Architects
edited by
Bang Yukyung
SPACE August 2026 (No. 705)
Art Museum Where Artworks Meet Royal Tombs
The OAR Contemporary Art Museum (hereinafter OAR) is located on the edge of Daereungwon Ancient Royal Tombs (hereinafter Daereungwon), which is adjacent to the Ancient Tombs in Noseo-ri, Gyeongju—a cluster of Silla royal tombs dating back 1,500 years. While these royal tombs are human-made structures, their gentle, grass-covered earthen mounds have become part of nature over the course of time. Amid this landscape, where the boundary between nature and artificiality has blurred, we sought to propose architecture not merely as a structure overlooking Daereungwon but as a device that guides visitors toward a new way of experiencing it. The site is located within a Historical and Cultural Environment Preservation District which imposed restrictions requiring a maximum height of 12m and a sloped roof. Instead of a conventional gable roof, we twisted the axis of the slope to create a form where two roofs interlock, much like folded paper. This twist lends a new character to the exterior and creates varying ceiling heights inside the exhibition hall, thereby transforming the spatial experience. ...
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Hyunjoon Yoo is a Professor at Hongik University and registered architect in the United States (AIA, NCARB), he leads HYP Architects with Jon Jiyoung. He studied architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yonsei University, and worked at Richard Meier & Partners Architects. He has won numerous awards both domestically and internationally, including the Chicago Athenaeum Architecture Awards, German Design Award, Young Architect Award, Kim Swoo Geun Architectural Prize Preview Award, and the President’s Prize for Korean Space Culture Awards. He is known as a ‘humanistic architect’ for his diverse books and broadcasts that provide insight into the world through architecture. His YouTube channel, ‘Sherlock Hyunjoon’, currently has 1.45 million subscribers.
Jon Jiyoung
Jon Jiyoung is a Principal at HYP Architects and a licensed architect in the Republic of Korea. She received a Master’s degree in Architectural Design from Hongik University and built her professional foundation through practice at Chang-jo Architects and the Los Angeles–based firm Morphosis. Since 2018, she has worked alongside Hyunjoon Yoo at HYP Architects. Drawing on extensive experience across a wide range of scales and programmes – from large-scale cultural and mixed-use facilities to small religious and residential projects – she is currently exploring the intersections of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and culture while further developing and expanding the practice‘s design philosophy.
