The year he turned 32, he founded Cho Slade Architecture in New York with James Slade and worked between the United States and Korea. In 2000, he received the Young Architects Award of the Architectural League of New York.
In 2003, he returned to Korea and opened the architecture firm Mass Studies. A book collecting the firm’s work, MASS STUDIES, came out in 2007. In 2008, Boutique Monaco was named to the top five of the International Highrise Award, and he also took part in an architecture exhibition at the Gyeonggi Museum of Art.
In 2009, the American monthly Fast Company ranked him third among its 10 most creative architects in the world. In 2010, he designed the Korea Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo and received the silver medal in architecture from the Bureau International des Expositions. Daum’s Jeju headquarters, Space.1, was unveiled in 2012. In 2013, Donga Ilbo wrote in an article on a survey of 100 architecture experts that he had emerged as an architect representing the 2000s.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 48, he received the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale as commissioner of the Korea Pavilion, and his name became known. That November, he held an exhibition at Plateau, Samsung Museum of Art, showing 69 projects from 12 years of work.
In 2015, he received the Hong Jin-Ki Creator Award in the culture and arts category. In 2016, he was chosen to design the new construction and remodeling of the Embassy of France in Seoul. In 2018, he received a Korean Institute of Architects Award for Harmony Hall and won the Dangin-ri cultural space design competition.
In 2020, he was selected for the Yeonhui district in the Yeonhui-Jeungsan innovation hub design competition. In 2021, Space K Seoul was among the winning works of the Korean Institute of Architects Award. In 2022, the enshrinement ceremony was held for Wonnam Temple, a Won-Buddhist temple he designed. In 2023, he took part in the renovation of the Osulloc Tea Museum in Jeju, and the new buildings of the French Embassy were presented.
The year he turned 58, he was invited as the first Korean architect to design the Serpentine Pavilion and unveiled Archipelagic Void in London. In 2025, he spoke at the architecture forum for the 30th anniversary of the Korea Pavilion in Venice. In 2026, a new exhibition space for Gladstone Seoul in Hannam-dong was unveiled. Mass Studies designed it.
Minsuk Cho (born 1966) founded Cho Slade Architecture in New York in 1998, the year he turned 32, and became known when the Korea Pavilion, with him as commissioner, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale on Jun 7, 2014, the year he turned 48. In 2024, the year he turned 58, he designed the Serpentine Pavilion as the first Korean architect to do so.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Opened a firm in New York with the architect James Slade and worked between the United States and Korea.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Who is Cho Min-seok, the Golden Lion commissioner · opens in a new tab The founding month and day are not given in the article.Received the Young Architects Award given by the Architectural League of New York.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Who is Cho Min-seok, the Golden Lion commissioner · opens in a new tab The month and day of the award are not given in the article.Returned to Korea and opened the architecture firm Mass Studies.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Who is Cho Min-seok, the Golden Lion commissioner · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · New book Humans and Signs · opens in a new tab The opening month and day are not given in the article.A book collecting the firm’s work, including its buildings, came out. Introducing it, Yonhap News Agency described him as the architect who became well known for Boutique Monaco, a mixed apartment and office building near Gangnam Station.
Source 05 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · New book Humans and Signs · opens in a new tab Based on the date of the new-book article; the publication date could not be confirmed.Boutique Monaco, an apartment and office building he designed near Gangnam Station, was named to the top five of the International Highrise Award, given for the world’s best tall buildings.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Who is Cho Min-seok, the Golden Lion commissioner · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Gyeonggi Museum of Art’s cross-genre architecture show · opens in a new tab The month of selection is not given in the articles.Took part with Jeffrey Inaba, Bjarke Ingels and Ma Yansong, presenting Mutated Slabs and Robotic Towers.
Source 06 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Gyeonggi Museum of Art’s cross-genre architecture show · opens in a new tabThe American monthly Fast Company ranked him third among its 10 most creative architects in the world.
Source 07 · Edaily (Korean) · Preview of the Korea Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo · opens in a new tab Based on Edaily’s reference to last September. Etoday describes the same selection as the 10 most creative architects of 2010.The pavilion designed by Mass Studies took Hangul as its design motif, and its exterior wall was decorated with art tiles by Ik-Joong Kang. The Expo ran for 184 days, from May 1 to Oct. 31. The work won the silver medal in architecture from the Bureau International des Expositions (B.I.E.).
Source 07 · Edaily (Korean) · Preview of the Korea Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Who is Cho Min-seok, the Golden Lion commissioner · opens in a new tabSource 08 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Who is Cho Min-seok, the Venice Golden Lion winner · opens in a new tab The date is the schedule given in pre-opening coverage. The date of the silver medal is not given in the articles.Daum invited 47 reporters to introduce Space.1. Cho was in charge of the design.
Source 09 · Bloter (Korean) · Daum’s Jeju era, the next fun experiment · opens in a new tabIn this article, Donga Ilbo wrote that he had emerged as an architect representing the 2000s, and presented Daum Space.1 as a work mentioned in the survey.
Source 10 · Donga Ilbo (Korean) · 13 worst designs commissioned by the government · opens in a new tabAs commissioner of the Korea Pavilion, he received the Golden Lion, the top honor among 65 national pavilions. It was the first Golden Lion the Korea Pavilion had won, across both the art and architecture exhibitions.
Presented 283 pieces, including drawings, models and sketches, from 69 projects over the previous 12 years.
Source 11 · Herald Business (Korean) · A famous architect, an architecture show with little to eat · opens in a new tabSource 28 · Newsis (Korean) · Architect Cho Min-seok, 12 years of architecture before and after · opens in a new tab Herald Business gives the opening as the 20th and Newsis as the 19th. The 20th was used.Received the culture and arts category award, with prize money of 50 million won.
Source 12 · Monthly Joongang (Korean) · 6th Hong Jin-Ki Creator Award · opens in a new tabThe Embassy of France in Seoul said it had selected Mass Studies and the French firm Sathy as the design team for the new construction and remodeling of the embassy, whose original building was designed by Kim Chung-up.
Source 13 · Hankyoreh (Korean) · Kim Chung-up’s masterpiece reborn · opens in a new tab The announcement date follows the article date (Dec. 14); the exact day could not be confirmed.Harmony Hall, Student Residence Hall No. 5 at Daejeon University, which he designed, was chosen for the Korean Institute of Architects Award, among seven works that included the Amorepacific headquarters.
Source 14 · YTN (Korean) · 2018 Korean Institute of Architects Award · opens in a new tab The announcement date is not in the article; the article is dated Oct. 2.The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Midland Power announced that Mass Studies’ Dangin-ri Podium and Promenade had been chosen as the winning entry.
Source 15 · Hankyoreh (Korean) · Dangin-ri cultural space design competition · opens in a new tabHis design for the Yeonhui district, a compact city tailored to young people on the site of a traffic island and a rainwater pumping station, was selected.
Source 16 · YTN (Korean) · Yeonhui-Jeungsan innovation hub design competition · opens in a new tab The announcement date follows the article date (Mar. 28); the exact day could not be confirmed.Space K Seoul was among the seven 2021 winning works announced that day by the Korean Institute of Architects.
Source 17 · Daehan Economic Daily (Korean) · 2021 Korean Institute of Architects Award · opens in a new tabThe enshrinement ceremony was held for Wonnam Temple, a Won-Buddhist temple he designed.
Source 18 · Won-Buddhism Newspaper (Korean) · Cho Min-seok designs in harmony with a spiritual setting · opens in a new tabOsulloc reopened its Tea Museum in Jeju after renovation, and Cho of Mass Studies took part in the renovation.
Source 19 · Ziksir (Korean) · Osulloc Tea Museum renovation · opens in a new tabAn event introducing the new embassy buildings was held for Bastille Day. Cho has taken part in the project since 2015.
Source 20 · News1 (Korean) · Kim Chung-up revived at the French embassy · opens in a new tabThe Serpentine Gallery in the U.K., which builds a pavilion every summer, invited him as its architect, the first Korean architect to be invited.
Source 21 · SPACE (Korean) · 2024 Serpentine Pavilion, Archipelagic Void · opens in a new tabSource 22 · SPACE (Korean) · Selected as the Serpentine Pavilion architect · opens in a new tab The month the invitation became known follows SPACE’s reference to January this year; the day could not be confirmed.Unveiled the 23rd pavilion, Archipelagic Void, in Kensington Gardens, London. It drew on the madang, the courtyard of a traditional Korean house, and was open to the public until Oct. 27.
Source 23 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Archipelagic Void · opens in a new tabSource 22 · SPACE (Korean) · Selected as the Serpentine Pavilion architect · opens in a new tabSource 21 · SPACE (Korean) · 2024 Serpentine Pavilion, Archipelagic Void · opens in a new tab The unveiling date follows the 7th given by Korea Economic Daily and SPACE’s March article. SPACE’s July issue gives June 5.At the forum marking the 30th anniversary of the Korea Pavilion, he gave a talk looking back at the planning and realization of the Korea Pavilion’s 2014 exhibition, Crow’s Eye View: The Korean Peninsula.
Source 24 · SPACE (Korean) · Vision and legacy: 30 years of the Venice Biennale Korea Pavilion · opens in a new tabSource 25 · CNB Journal (Korean) · 2025 Venice Biennale Korea Pavilion · opens in a new tab The forum date follows CNB Journal’s local time.The Seoul Architecture Forum said it would hold a critique session on the work of Cho and Mass Studies in the main conference room of Seoul City Hall.
Source 26 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Seoul Architecture Forum critique of Cho Min-seok · opens in a new tab Based on pre-event coverage; whether it took place was not confirmed in the articles.Gladstone Seoul unveiled a new exhibition space in Hannam-dong. Mass Studies, led by Cho, designed it, and it is twice the size of the previous space in Cheongdam-dong.
Source 27 · Newsis (Korean) · Gladstone Seoul moves to Hannam-dong · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1998–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Arts · South Korea
1966 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1966: the year of the event minus 1966, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.10.03 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.