International VELUX Award 2014
for students of architecture
2nd prize winner – facts and quotes
Project title: Morning Glory Cloud
Team: Jaebong Jeon, Keunyoung Lim
School: Hanyang University/Hongik University, Republic of Korea
Teacher: Heejune Whang
Jury comments
The project reflects on how daylight can contribute to the unification of Korea. The design
concept of an architectural borderline is inspired by “the Morning Glory Cloud”, a rare, meteorological phenomenon occasionally observed in the morning for a few moments. The project envisions how warm modules of balloons, heated by the sun, will rise into the sky and
create shadow at sunrise; after sunset, they are brought down and start to illuminate the
surroundings - charged by the sun during the day. Light and shadow created in the process
serve as a new barrier that stimulates us to think about the meaning of borders and the
hope that they will disappear.
With this story, the students want to tell us a metaphoric story - a story about awareness
through light, connecting light to air in an ephemeral way as well as how to tie fantasy with
the real world - and it is even told with a bit of humour. The project is incredibly exemplary
and poetic as well, as it is impressively presented.
Student quotes
Jaebong Jeon received a Bachelor of Architecture from Hanyang University in Seoul and he
is now studying at The Cooper Union in New York City.
Keunyoung Lim received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Communication Design) from
Hongik University in Seoul and she is now studying at Harvard Graduate School of Design
(M.Arch 1).
”Morning Glory Cloud” is the title of their project. The inspiration for the project comes from
the meteorological phenomenon of a morning glory cloud.
“We believe that huge enormous atmospheric phenomena have supernatural power, and we
are interested in the influence of that power. We, human beings, tend to depend on potential power of the supernatural. When we encountered the picture of "Morning glory cloud,"
we thought that its characteristics – emerging for a little while in the morning and
then disappearing – had something to do with our design concept. Moreover, the physical
aspects regarding the cloud's particles and structures are fascinating to reinterpret in terms
of architectural idea”, says team captain Jaebong Jeon.
The theme of ‘Light of Tomorrow’ set the students’ thoughts going about the future of the
Korean peninsula and reflections on concepts like light and shadow, boundaries, and the
interaction between different kinds of light.
“We tried to seek a way that daylight can contribute to the unification of the Korean peninsula. The light and shadow produced by the system of our project will serve as a new barrier stimulating people to think about the meaning of ‘boundary’. In other words, the new
wall would not only function as a rigid barrier for the time being, but inspire Koreans to
think about the possibility of its disappearance”, reflects Jaebong Jeon.
International VELUX Award 2014
for students of architecture
2nd prize winner – facts and quotes
Jaebong Jeon and Keunyoung Lim visited the Demilitarized Zone as part of their field investigation. It was difficult to get close to the border, but still they could observe how life went
on down the nearby North Korean street just 500 metres away.
“The trip made us realize that the wall between North Korea and South Korea is not a physically thick barrier, but just a psychological line mostly in the mind. Based on the discovery,
we suggested a more flexible architectural boundary in which we can express our hope for
the dissolution of this barrier. We hope that our project will come true at some future day”,
says the team captain.
Every part of the process to create their project from initial discussions to design and now
winning one of the award prizes has been valuable to the two students who dream of setting up their own architectural practice.