Please briefly introduce yourself and your current role. Who are you—and what excites you about your work today?
My name is Hee-Jun Sim. I studied architecture at the University of Stuttgart between 2001 and 2008, and later worked at Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Paris, Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, and SL-Rasch in Stuttgart.
Since 2013, I have been running my own architectural practice, ArchiWorkshop, based in Seoul. The office operates as an atelier, engaging in architecture, design research, and interdisciplinary work.
What interests me today is not a specific building type, but the question of how architecture positions itself within contemporary conditions between city and nature, technology and material, global discourse and local context. I see architecture as a process of framing relationships rather than producing objects.
Which experience from your studies still shapes you to this day?
Stuttgart offered an environment where architecture was not defined as a fixed discipline. It allowed a continuous negotiation between design, engineering, and research.
Working at ITKE under Professor Jan Knippers was a decisive experience. It shifted my understanding of structure from a technical necessity to an architectural driver. Structure became a way of thinking, not just a solution.
The possibility to move across institutions and cities was equally important. My time at ETH Zurich, and later my work at Herzog & de Meuron and Renzo Piano Building Workshop, were not isolated experiences but part of a continuous trajectory. Stuttgart functioned as a node within a larger European network, where knowledge and practice were interconnected. This condition of being simultaneously local and international continues to define my work.
Three words that describe your time studying at the University of Stuttgart.
Open — Critical — Expansive.
Which lightbulb moments from your career would you have liked to have had during your studies?
In practice, one realizes that architecture is not only about producing ideas, but about sustaining them through negotiation, collaboration, and persistence.
Looking back, I would have engaged more intensely with the intellectual environment of the university. Every lecture, discussion, and critique is an opportunity to sharpen one’s position. These moments are difficult to replicate later.
I also became more aware of the importance of continuity in research. The ICD/ITKE collaboration that developed after my graduation represents a model where architecture, structure, and material are not separated. It is an approach I continue to explore in my own work.
What was your first impression of the University of Stuttgart on your first day as a student?
It was a moment of displacement. A new country, a new language, and a different way of thinking. At the same time, there was a strong sense of openness. The university did not impose a single direction. Instead, it required each student to construct their own position. That initial uncertainty gradually became a productive condition.
Is there a book (or film/other medium) that has had a lasting influence on your professional or personal path?
I have been influenced less by individual books than by certain ways of thinking. Peter Zumthor’s Atmospheres made this thinking tangible. It articulates how material, light, and sound construct spatial presence beyond representation.
Alongside these texts, the lecture by Frei Otto remains a strong reference. His work demonstrates that form can emerge from logic, efficiency, and natural processes. It is a reminder that architecture can be both precise and poetic at the same time.
What advice would you give to students who are about to graduate?
Architecture requires time. It is a discipline built through accumulation of knowledge, experience, and position.
Rather than trying to follow predefined paths, it is more important to define your own questions and remain consistent with them.
The context in which you work will continuously change. What remains is your ability to think, to adapt, and to engage critically with the conditions you are given.
Your favorite place on campus?
The Stadtmitte campus, particularly the architecture institute at K1, remains vivid in my memory.
It is a place where different conditions overlap the intensity of studio work and the openness of the surrounding landscape. This coexistence between concentration and release was essential. Equally important were the informal moments gathering with students, sharing time beyond work. These experiences shaped the culture of the studio as much as the projects themselves.
What would you like to see the university do moving forward?
Architecture today operates within increasingly complex and interconnected conditions. The role of the university is not only to transmit knowledge, but to construct frameworks where different disciplines and perspectives can intersect.
Strengthening international collaboration is essential not as an exchange of students, but as a continuous dialogue between contexts. Shared studios, research platforms, and real-world projects can extend architectural thinking beyond geographic boundaries. At the same time, emerging technologies digital fabrication, artificial intelligence, and sustainable systems should not be treated as tools alone, but as drivers that reshape the discipline itself.
Equally important is the connection between alumni. Many Stuttgart graduates are working globally, often in diverse and influential positions. Establishing stronger networks between them can create new forms of collaboration, mentorship, and knowledge exchange.
In this sense, the university can function not only as an educational institution, but as an active platform connecting people, ideas, and practices across time and geography.
Vanessa Misirloglou
Head of Alumni Relations