Interview with Park Jong-seok, head of the department, on U-space remodeling

 The U-space, which was newly created through the last construction, was designed to eliminate the existing information search room, relocate the space next to the U-space, expand the space, and redesign it to be reborn as a space that can be used in various ways. We interviewed Park Jong-seok, head of the department, who designed the entire plan as the person in charge.

Q. Please introduce yourself briefly.

A. Hello, I'm Park Jong-seok, head of the department. The department is in charge of school affairs, students, and all other tasks that do not correspond to research administration, and I, head of the department, are in charge of these administrative tasks.


Q. We wonder why the U-space, the first floor space of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been newly decorated.

A. Even at Agricultural College, there was an information search room on the first floor managed by the computer institute. But when I went there, the utilization rate was too low. Then I thought it would be nice to change this space to fit the current trend. Before, the U-space was stuffy. There was a student council room and a BK21 professor's room. I thought about moving this space and providing space to students. I thought about how to give it to a cafe like Starbucks, and it was really noisy, but students were studying in such a place. Then, I explained to the dean to make the space like that way, and we worked to improve and expand the existing space.


Q. What's the most important thing that you thought of?

A. The first thing that came to my mind was students. I wanted to solve the problem of the lack of space for students to study and communicate comfortably because the central library is far from the College of Agriculture and Life sciences. In the past, we needed a separate information search room, but nowadays, we all carry laptops, so we don't have to go to the information search room. Instead, we wanted to make a comfortable search space next to the classroom.


Q. What has changed the most compared to the original space?

A. I heard that the origianl space was a stuffy space and a stereotyped space called an information search room, and now it has become a space that anyone can use freely and a space where people can talk easily. We are trying to secure more spaces in the future by connecting them with the surrounding buildings, and make a good space for students from other colleges to study, rather than studying at other colleges. Other colleges’ officials also came and saw it, and they said it was very good. I was also surprised to see that students filled up the U-space during the exam period.


Q. The copper plate of Seoul National University on one side is impressive, is there any behind story?

A. That was attached to the building called the general hall when I was on the Suwon campus. It's been about 20 years since the agricultural college moved from Suwon to Gwanak. It was covered with cloth in the basement, and it was that. I thought it would be a waste to throw it away because it's a building, and I thought it would be better to install it over there as junk, but I was skeptical at first, but as a result, I think it's decorating the U-space nicely.