Seoul, South Korea

Designed by Han Kook Architects and KACI International along with landscape architect Gyutae Kim, the Soul Forest Doseon-sa Temple is a sublime architectural creation that could stand on the boundary between tradition and modernity, life and death, memorial and art and will serve as an opportunity to announce a new genre of architecture in Korean Buddhist memorial culture has been opened.

The project has been awarded a 2021 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The Soul Forest is designed as a place to pray for deceased souls to take off the yoke of the Sabah world and sublimate in a space without gravity to go to the paradise world.

It consists of 8 modern concept glass stupa, enshrines the Amitabha Buddha at the central altar and builds 8 bodhisattvas inside each stupa, establishing a new concept of outdoor paradise and guiding the soul of the dead.

It will become a new attraction of Korean Buddhism that prays for the rebirth of paradise.

The architects have tried to embed defining elements of Buddhism and the Buddhist scriptures in the design concept of the Stupa.

First, the scriptures define the existence of Buddha as, “one that has neither come nor left.”

Therefore the architects can state that Buddha is simply the man as he exists.

Therefore, the nine Buddha statues were designed in a metaphysical form through which light can penetrate.

Also, looking at the left and right sides of the Stupa, you can see that the stacked plaque forms a 9-story stone pagoda.

“The matter is void. All is vanity.” This Buddhist expression shows that, as the boundary between matter and the void dissolves, existence is revealed as illusion and illusion as existence.

The visible and invisible become inseparable.

To express the aspects of Buddhist philosophy, the architects etched the glass corners in a gradiated pattern, seeking to blur the barriers between matter and the void.

The plaques of the deceased to be brought into it are illuminated by the soft lights on the back as if they were light beams behind a Buddha statue.

Sending the energy of mercy and light to souls who embrace and leave for paradise, especially at night when darkness falls on Sabah, about 10,000 lights like the starlight of the galaxy will unfold the world of flower garland sutra.

The transparent glass-like pond in front of the central altar is a place that reflects one’s Karma as a so-called “Eobkyeong-ji” and reflects on the virtues of the “eightfold path” that the general public must practice advancing into the world of Nirvana.

The eight stupa ceilings are made of a mysterious scented tree, which will serve as a medium to reach paradise, and under the eaves of the outside, seven jewels from the Amitabha sutra are installed to express the merit of the paradise world.

Project: The Soul Forest Doseon-sa Temple
Architects: Han Kook Architects, KACI International
Design Team: Kyeongsik Yoon and Yoonjung Kim
Landscape Architects: Gyutae Kim
Client: Doseon-Sa Temple
General Contractor: Yoonsung
Photographer: Jongoh Kim