SEOUL DESIGN AWARD

Group : EUS+ Architects

City : Jeonju, Republic of Korea

Representative Designer : Min W. Suh, Jungwoo Ji

 

 

 

 

Honorable Mention + Citizens’ Award

 

OOZOORO 1216

 

 

Participatory Design Workshop for teenagers

 

 

 

Walking along this passageway as if on an adventure, users come across four diff erent zones : “Talk Talk Zone, ”

an area for communication ; “Kung Kung Zone, ” an area for play ; “Seuk Seuk Zone, ” an area for creative activities ;

and “Gom Gom Zone, ” where users can lay back and take some time to think . Each zone is furnished with books,

structures for the exhibition of work created by users, recreational equipment, stages, and various furniture that users can modify to meet their specific needs .

 

 

 

In Korean, the word “OOZOO ” stands for “outer space .

” It is homonymous with the English phrase, “would you. ” The name “OOZOORO 1216 ” reflects hope for the tween generation to fully experience and explore a world as wide and new as outer space .

Taking inspiration from the historic city walls and walking trails of Jeonju, the space is divided into sections, not rooms, which are connected by a single passageway

Built by EUS +Architects in collaboration with the Book Culture Foundation, SEEART,

a venture philanthropy fund named C Program, and Jeonju City, OOZOORO 1216 is the fi rst space built exclusively for the tween generation in Korea .

 

 

 

The process consisted of four steps : pre -workshops with users, one -to -one scale design workshops, design and construction,

and post -workshops after construction.

At the pre -workshops, elementary and middle school students in Jeonju were asked to keep journals,

referred to as the “Tween Note, ” which contain questions about the city and their everyday lives.

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During the workshops, participants were able to get a feel of the actual space that will be used and had a chance to express what they imagined it to be .

The tweens who participated in the workshops were appointed to manage the space after it opened . They introduced it to visitors and created a users’ guide.

 

 

WOOJOORO 1216 has become a public space that allows the tween generation to explore places,

imagine a better environment in the city, see and learn from each other, and empathize with generational communication.