Sangmyung University announced on March 10 that Minseok Choi and Si-eon Jang, fourth-year students majoring in space design, won the grand prize at the 7th Museum of Emotions international competition, organized by the architecture contest platform Buildner.
The Museum of Emotions competition challenges entrants to design spaces where positive and negative emotions coexist using only visual language—no text or annotations.
Choi and Jang submitted a project titled Nevertheless, which responds to last year’s earthquake in Myanmar. The magnitude-7.7 quake produced more than 10,000 casualties and leveled numerous buildings; amid the wreckage, the students placed a smiling Buddha to symbolize hope. In the design, walls and light separations create two juxtaposed zones: one of debris and collapse, the other of calm and reflection, underscoring the contrast between chaos and stillness.
The jury commended the project for choosing preservation over reconstruction and for transforming loss into a site of collective memory and renewed meaning. They said the design conveys, through the language of architecture, a hopeful message—that although what is broken cannot be fully restored, we can still move forward.
Notably, Choi took the top prize for the second consecutive year.
“It was meaningful to create a work that offers solace and hope through architecture,” Choi said. “I am proud that this project once again highlights Korea’s competitiveness on the world stage.”
Based on this accomplishment, Sangmyung University was ranked 42nd out of 1,880 architecture schools worldwide and 4th among 84 domestic institutions in Buildner’s World Architecture School Rankings.
