A Prayer Room Carved Into the Hillside
ITM Yooehwa Architects has completed the ‘Heaven’s Voice’ prayer room at Handong University in South Korea, creating a compact sanctuary for contemplation that responds to the hillside landscape with a minimalist concrete design. Positioned on a gentle rise at the campus’s center, the site was chosen by the architect for its powerful symbolic significance.
This project began with a donation from a local church elder, prompting a brief for a chapel that would be both humble and meaningful. ‘The site revealed itself,’ lead architect Yoo Ehwa shares. She observed that the campus contours resembled a sheep, with the selected hill as its heart. The elevated location allows the subterranean prayer room to be seen from neighboring buildings, while the rooftop cross is visible only from above and from within the space.
images © Yongkwan Kim
Meditative Interiors by ITM Yooehwa Architects
Working with a very limited budget, ITM Yooehwa Architects made early decisions to forgo applied finishes, instead emphasizing the importance of form, volume, and light. ‘We had to let meaning come from structure,’ the architect explains. This philosophy sharpened the focus on the space’s primary role as a prayer room, allowing the design to evolve with simplicity and clarity appropriate for a tranquil environment.
The approach to the chapel begins at the base of the hill, following a gently curving path. The route ascends gradually, with ramps extending along the exterior, maintaining a seamless connection between the outdoors and the contemplative interior. These circulation paths are shaped by the natural slope of the site and help ease the transition from the busy campus into a quieter, more reflective setting.
ITM Yooehwa’s prayer room is a compact retreat for reflection, shaped by its hillside location
The Symbolic Structure and Skylight
The entrance to the prayer room is intentionally kept at the scale of a corridor, a design move by ITM Yooehwa to encourage visitors to enter individually. Yoo Ehwa elaborates: ‘I wanted people to arrive one by one, as if preparing their hearts.’ This intimate entry sets the mood for an interior defined by restraint and calm.
Within, the space is uninterrupted by columns. The roof is supported by a cantilevered system, highlighting the symbolic weight of the cross at the center. Seating is arranged to foster a horizontal connection with the landscape through a long window, while above, a skylight over the cross draws in a vertical shaft of daylight.
the prayer room’s entrance is intentionally sized like a corridor
A Prayer Room Sliced With Sunlight
The meeting of horizontal and vertical light shapes an ever-changing atmosphere inside the prayer room. Sunlight streams in from above, illuminating the cross and creating a dynamic experience that shifts throughout the day. ‘The light gathers and traces the passage of time,’ she continues, describing the space’s intentional alignment with daily rhythms.
This luminous quality brings a sense of presence to the modestly sized room. Light is treated as a fundamental architectural element, guiding orientation and spiritual focus. With little ornamentation, the design emphasizes texture, shadow, and the raw structure, allowing light to define the space.
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