Yonsei University was facing a newly planned renovation and construction for its famous Beakyang-ro; the University’s main street connecting to the main building through the main gate. Beakyang-ro is famous for its beautiful and fully-grown ginkgo trees flanking the streets throughout from the main entrance. The street’s spectacle perspective views flanked by the trees are the most significant and symbolic image of Yonsei University’s campus. The new construction is about to break the ground to create an underground space for parking and cultural facilities, which in turn will destroy the Beakyang-ro’s symbolic images and all the symbolic trees.

Because of the threat to destroy trees on the ground, the biggest and most important task of the campus renovation was to protect and preserve the image of beakyang-ro and trees. Facing backlash from a great number of alumni, students and faculty members, the new master plan proposed to preserve all the trees on the Beakyang-ro street.

In this context, the underground space also consider the symbolic image of the campus as a part of its efforts to preserve the University’s iconic image. The B-Square (Beakyang Square) project is located at the entry of the underground space where it can propose a first entrance point to the underground space for the visitors, while it becomes the main point to connect the underground with the ground level and sky through its oculus toward campus and Beakyang-ro above.

The B-Square proposal is about to propose a symbolic entrance; second entrance located underground, by embracing the Yonsei University’s cultural heritage and symbol while suggesting a good place to rest and view out toward the ground level above.