The Daegu Student Cultural & Youth Center competition invited architects to envision a major civic and cultural destination for the city of Daegu—a place where arts, education, community, and youth development converge. Participating as part of an international team, American architect John Jessen collaborated with Wonyang Architects to create a bold proposal for a multi-layered cultural campus serving students, families, and citizens across the metropolitan region.
Conceived as a centerpiece of Daegu’s public cultural infrastructure, the project sought to provide a vibrant environment for arts education, performance, lifelong learning, and community engagement. The design brief called for a facility that would function as both an extension of the Daegu Arts Gifted Education Center and a civic resource open to all—supporting music instruction, ensemble practice, choirs, Korean traditional arts, and a comprehensive range of youth programming.
Set on a 277,238-square-foot site with a 250,945-square-foot building program, the design challenge involved weaving together an exceptionally diverse collection of cultural and recreational spaces. The proposed campus included a grand performance hall and theater, art education studios, music rooms, exhibition galleries, athletic facilities, swimming pools, experience rooms, playgrounds, outdoor gathering spaces, and underground parking—all unified within a cohesive architectural vision.
Jessen’s design approach emphasized openness, accessibility, and civic presence, treating the site as a public landscape where arts and community life intersect. Indoor and outdoor spaces were arranged to create seamless transitions between performance, learning, recreation, and social interaction. The architecture was envisioned as a welcoming cultural beacon—one that would inspire creativity, celebrate youth, and anchor the city’s ongoing investment in arts and education.
The resulting concept positioned the Daegu Student Cultural & Youth Center as far more than a building: it was imagined as a dynamic cultural commons, supporting the growth of young artists, enriching public life, and reinforcing Daegu’s commitment to cultural expression and community well-being. Through this international collaboration, John Jessen helped articulate a bold civic vision for one of Korea’s most forward-looking cultural projects.
Project location: Daegu, Korea
Project size: 250,000 SF
Work previously completed by John Jessen as Principal Architect & Architect-of-Record with VOA Associates (now Stantec).