Tour the new Bangjja Yugi Museum in South Korea

earthy exterior view of Bangjja Yugi Museum — (Image credit: Jang Mi)

Set in a former coal mining village in central Korea, the Bangjja Yugi Museum explores both material and memory, celebrating the life and work of master craftsman Lee Bong-ju. Recognised as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage holder, Lee has dedicated his career to bangjja yugi – Korea’s centuries-old tradition of hand-forged bronze tableware, prized for its warm glow and resilience.The new cultural space, designed by Seoul-based Studio Heech, founded by Heechan Park, was conceived not only to host Bong-ju's precious archive and display it for discerning visitors; it also demonstrates through its very fabric the spirit of his ancient craft.

Bangjja Yugi Museum interiors featuring earth built walls and timber details

Explore the Bangjja Yugi Museum in South Korea

Creating parallels between the craft of making bronze pieces and the space that holds them, Park developed the museum as a 'building within a building.' Using the original warehouse, which already held the craftsman's archives - a simple steel-and-concrete warehouse which was reclad in timber in the past so as to appear like a traditional Korean hanok house - and not wanting to alter it further, the architect took a different path. The design solution centres on inserting an earth-built structure within the existing one.

Bangjja Yugi Museum exterior view of retained historic building

The new element is divided into two, tactile rammed-earth sections, which create a layered experience for the visitor, who can stroll inside them or on the periphery - between the new and old structures. Revealing the raw state of the materials used and nodding to the handmade process of bronze forging, the Bangjja Yugi Museum envelopes its guests in texture.

A new, round staircase leads to a second level of exhibits and a solid-feeling granite flooring anchors everything to the ground. The entire concept plays with notions of opposites - old and new, authenticity and mimicry, memory and present experience.

Park writes in conclusion: 'Above all, the Bangjja Yugi Museum embodies the spirit of Lee Bong-ju’s craft: transforming raw material through persistence and repetition into something luminous. The museum’s rough earthen walls serve as a pure and uncompromising backdrop for the brilliance of the bronzeware, creating a setting where architecture and craft resonate as one.'

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).