“올해 82살인데, 젊을 때 건축을 했어. 많이 하진 않았고, 평생 집을 딱 3개 지었지.” “어떤 건물이었나요?” “을지로에 있는 롯데호텔, 여의도의 63빌딩, 강변의 테크노마트.” “네?” “그 세 개 집을 짓는데 건축 본부장으로 있었어. 설계도 하고, 시공사를 뽑고, 건축 허가를 받고, 감독을 했지. 서울시를 설득하기 위해 이 건물이 지어지면 교통에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 분석을 하기도 했고. 엄청 고생스러웠지. 건물 하나 짓기 위해서 해야할 일이 너무나도 많았어.” “세 건물 모두 서울의 상징적인 건물이잖아요.” “그렇게 지은 건물이 랜드마크가 되고, 외신에 소개되고, 도시의 흐름이 바뀌는 걸 보면서 무척 기뻤지. 그만한 보람이 없었어. 하지만 이젠 다 옛날 일이지. 이제는 63빌딩보다 롯데타워가 서울의 랜드마크가 되었잖아. 이젠 그 앞을 지나갈 일도 거의 없어.” “요즘은 어떤 일을 하세요?” “정말이지 할 일이 없어. 몇 년 전부터는 더이상 언론 인터뷰나 자문 요청도 오지 않으니까. 무료한게 가장 큰 고민이 될 줄은 상상을 못 했는데 말이야. 다행히 오늘은 미술 수업에 가는 날이었어. 일주일 중 가장 좋아하는 날이지. 내가 건축을 시작하게 된 것도 꼬마일 적부터 그림 그리는 걸 좋아해서였거든.”
“I’m 82 this year, and when I was young, I did architecture. I didn’t do much, but I built exactly three places in my entire life.” “What sort of buildings were they?” “The Lotte Hotel in Euljiro, the 63 Building in Yeoido, and Gangbyeon’s Techno Mart.” “Pardon?” “I was there as the head architect when those three buildings were built. I did the planning, chose the construction company, got the building permit, and directed it. To persuade the city of Seoul, I even analyzed the impact that constructing the building would have on traffic. It was a huge undertaking. There was an unreal amount of work I had to do to build one building.” “All three of them are iconic buildings of Seoul, after all.” “I was overjoyed to watch as those buildings became landmarks, received foreign press coverage, and changed the flow of the city. There was no greater reward than that. But that’s now all old news. Rather than the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower has become Seoul’s landmark. Now there’s not really any reason to pass by there.” “What sort of work do you do these days?” “I really don’t have anything to do. It’s been a few years since the mass media interviews and the consultation requests stopped coming. I never imagined that monotony would become my biggest dilemma. Luckily, today was my day to go to art class. It’s my favorite day of the week. You see, the reason I went into architecture is that I loved drawing ever since I was a little kid.”
