In October of 2007, a student coming out of Hanyang Station exit number two to attend her entrance interview into Hanyang University (HYU)was welcomed by the loud and dusty sight, which was the construction site for the New Administration Building.
For the last two years, every student walking out of the subway station through Aegimun has been welcomed by the noise and unpleasant sight of this construction. The construction began after the winter break in 2007. The initial step in construction was to destroy the welcoming green area in front of Aegimun.
After the summer break of 2008, a shortcut, which led students from the subway station to the front of the second engineering building, was blocked and caused a lot of inconvenience to students who now had to climb the small hill in front of the Graduate School building.
The construction is planned to be completed in March, and it will be the freshman of the school. This new building will definitely catch the attention of new students, but do you know why and for whom was it built?
Why Was It Built?
The HYU Administration Building is a representative symbol and perhaps the face of this school because it is the first thing people see when they come out of the subway station. Does this mean that HYU has two faces? Not really. Many students are wondering why HYU has been building this New Administration Building when the old one seemed fine to for this purpose.
Lee Seung-yun, a sophomore in the College of Law, said, “Every time I walk past the Administration Building, I never thought we needed a new one. It looked big and awesome, just like other school’s Administration Buildings. The old building was good enough to represent my university. It was my favorite building among the school’s buildings.” He also added, “I do not know why the administration building had to be built when there are so many other buildings that have a more urgent need to be rebuilt.”
Despite student’s feelings, there is a purpose in building a New Administration Building. Currently, the administration departments for all majors and university purposes are scattered throughout the college grounds. For example, the Planning Team is located in the College of Social Science. The Department of Purchasing, where many salespeople gather to sell their products to our school, gather in the Olympic gymnasium which is located in the so-called third campus, going up and down the hill. This location causes many inconveniences for the sales people. This location could possibly harm the results in sales, as salesmen may think the school is not treating them well.
“The odd locations and separation of these administration departments is not good for the school or the students.” said the chief of the Design Team, Lee Won-yong. According to him, when the administration departments are apart from each other and take up spaces which are supposed to be used for students, the efficiency of work is lower. By building a New Administration Building and moving all departments into this building they are expecting increased efficiency of work. “However, because not all departments will be able to fit into the new building, only the effective departments are being moved.”
Questions regarding the New Administration Building
“I heard that the Hanyang Plaza is going to be torn down since it blocks the view of the New Administration Building. If it is torn down, where are the stores and the club rooms going to be located? Song Min-Kyung, a sophomore in College of Information communication, asked in her interview.
The answer to her question would be “Yes, it is going to be torn down.” The Hanyang Plaza is located right in front of the Aegimun, it offers a variety of conveniences to all of the students at HYU. The idea of tearing down this building will definitely cause a negative reaction from the students as it seems that the school is taking away the right to enjoy a student convenience under the name of dignity for the school, which seems quite lame.
However, according to the chief of the Design Team, the Hanyang Plaza is going to be torn down since it blocks the view of the new building which brings down the dignity of the school’s new face. The designer of the building wants the plaza to be torn down for the same reason. The architect believes that after the student union building is torn down, this new face will find its true color.
Do not become angry yet, this is something that will be happening in the future, not now. They will not just tear it down without an alternative to put in its place. The current plan is to relocate the Hanyang Plaza facilities into another building by building a new building, or extending the old one. “If the student welfare building is torn down, a green area will replace the plaza, which would make HYU’s environment more peaceful.” said Lee Won-yong
Yang Hyo-won, a sophomore in the Department of English Language and Literature, said in her interview, “Is there going to be a bell on the top of the building because it looks as if there is going to be one? If we are going to have one, will the bell chime every hour or at noon so the students will know what time it is?” Lee Won-yong answered that they have no plans to put a bell inside the spire, so there is no plan to ring a bell to let the students know when classes begin and end, or to let them know the time.
A student from the College of Economics and Finance, Lee Soo-yeon asked if the lion statue currently located in front of the old Administration Building will be turned so that it faces the end where the two buildings meet. The chief of the Design Team said, “We have a long term plan for it to be moved and are still in the process of sorting this out, so we cannot give an exact answer right now.”
“If the new building has everything from the old one, what for the old building going to be used for?” these questions came from the school bulletin board on the school’s homepage.
The old building which has symbolic meaning for the school cannot be used for something that involves a lot of people walking in and out of the building because it would ruin the building. The chief of the Design Team said, “It will be used as a memorial for the school’s history or as an office for the Hanyang Foundation. This would strengthen the meaning of the administration building.
Introducing the New Administration Building
The new building is being built by an alumnus of HYU, Ryu Choon-soo, the architect for the Seoul World Cup Stadium. He graduated from the Department of Architecture in 1970, and was selected as the architect for the Seoul World Cup Stadium. This enabled him to receive the proud Hanyangian Award in the same year and receive the glory of designing the New Administration Building. He completed the design with his co-worker Jun Hun-mang. After the first design, the president of HYU, Kim Jong-Ryang motivated him to design the current building by telling him the symbolic story of the New Administration Building.
Regarding the design of the building, the bell tower at the top of the building is the standout thing representing the building. It was introduced by a university in Humboldt, Germany. The stairs on both sides of the building is a connection between the environment and the surrounding buildings.
To build the new building, the school had to postpone remodeling a number of other buildings. The students may feel bad about this but the intention of building a new administration building was to create a more efficient working environment in the school so that the school could offer more conveniences to the students.
Who Is It for?
It appears that the New Administration Building, which is causing a lot of curiosity from many people, will be good for all the constituents of the school; the school, the faculty members, and mainly the students. Because of the new building the administration’s job will be more efficiently completed. By moving the departments out of each college, students will have a space of their own. It looks like the school is striking three birds with one stone.