South Korea: Ji Soon
Born in 1935, Ji Soon was the first licensed woman architect in South Korea (1966). She was co-founder and CEO of Ilyang Architectural Research Institute (1969–1980) and Gansam General Architecture Firm (1983–2003), both located in Seoul, South Korea. Ji Soon held a diploma from the Department of Architectural Engineering at Seoul National University. She gained professional experience working for the Korea Housing Corporation and the Structural Engineers Architectural Technology Research Institute. She was also a professor in the Department of Housing and Living at Yonsei University in Seoul (1971–1991). Ji Soon served as president of the Korean Association of Women Architects (1988–1990). She earned the Distinguished Alumni Award issued by the College of Engineering at Seoul National University’s (2015), the Chopyeong Architecture Award (1999), the Korean Architecture Culture Award (1995 and 1997), and the Seoul Architecture Award (1987). Ji Soon died in 2021 in Seoul.
References
Ilbo, Dong-A. “Obituary: Domestic Women’s 1st Architect Ji Sun” [“[부고]국내 여성 1호 건축사 지순씨.”] Donga, September 29, 2021. https://www.donga.com/news/People/article/all/20210929/109462215/1.
“Ji Soon: How to Get What You Want.” [지순: 원하는 것에 다가가는 방법들.”] Mokcheon Architecture. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://mokchon-architects.org/architect/10.
“Ji-sun, the first female architect in Korea, designed the POSCO Center and the Bank of Korea headquarters..” [디자인·건축 이야기] ‘대한민국 여성 건축사 1호’ 지순, 포스코센터·韓銀 본점 설계했죠.” Accessed June 12, 2024. “http://premium.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2021/09/28/2021092800082.html”>http://premium.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2021/09/28/2021092800082.html. [Link unavailable as of March 10, 2026].
Kim Kyung-ae. “Jisun, advisor to Gamsam Architecture, ‘first female architect and godmother of the architectural world,’ passes away.” [“‘첫 여성 건축사·건축계 대모’ 지순 간삼건축 고문 별세.”] September 28, 2021. https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/obituary/1013104.html.
“Korea’s first architect Chi Soon passes away.” Gansam. September 21, 2021. http://www.gansam.com/eng/news/news.php?ptype=view&code=news&idx=3330&category=
“‘No. 1 Female Architect’ Ji-Soon, Former CEO of Gansam Architecture, Passes Away.” Seoul Economic Daily, September 28, 2021. https://www.sedaily.com/NewsView/22RN2Z5Y10.
Park, Sun Min Melany. “A Graduate Student Perspective: KI Graduate Summer Research Grant. Harvard University Korea Institute. September 8, 2015. https://korea.fas.harvard.edu/news/graduate-student-perspective-ki-graduate-summer-research-grant-summer-2015-sun.
Seoul National University College of Engineering. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://eng.snu.ac.kr/snu/main/main.do.
“The weight of “firsts” readily shouldered by Ji-sun, the first female architect.” [“흔쾌히 감당했던 ’최초’의 무게, 여성 건축사 1호 지순[플랫] – 경향신문.”] Flat. September 28, 2021. https://www.khan.co.kr/culture/culture-general/article/202109280947001.
