A notable figure in the field of passive design and environmental architecture in Korea, Kyung Hoi Lee was born in 1939. He studied at Yonsei University (1962) before moving to the UK and enrolling at the Architectural Association in the academic year 1969-70 and completed a post-graduate course from the Department of Tropical Architecture, with a specialization in housing. After graduating, he continued on to do a PhD in Building Science from Strathclyde University in the United Kingdom, soon after which he appears to have returned to Korea where he spent his career promoting sustainability in architecture. One of his primary contributions is at the Department of Architecture at Yonsei University – his alma mater – where he taught for 40 years (1964-2004) and supervised about 50 PhD student and 300 master’s students. Lee has also published widely on the topics of traditional architecture, building energy-efficiency and responsiveness to climate, passive solar design, the quality of indoor environments, and intelligent buildings systems. Beyond his academic contributions, he was also involved in policy efforts, helping set up regulatory recommendations and codes on building insulation standards and energy efficiency guidelines in Korea. He helped set up the Korea Institute of Ecological Architecture Environment (KIEAE) in 2001 which aims to spread awareness around environmental architecture. Lee has held several prominent positions in his field; he was a president of the Architectural Institute of Korea, president of the Korean Solar Energy Society, an honorary member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, and an honorable fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register 1945‐1972, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll Book, 1964-75, AA Archives  
• AIVC’s Interview with Dr. Kyung-Hoi Lee, AIR Information Review VOL 30., No. 2, March 2009
• People, Yonsei University, Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, https://arch.yonsei.ac.kr/people, accessed 19 July 2025
• LEE, KYUNG HOI, and THOMAS A. MARKUS. “Heating Forms and Living Room Usage.” Journal of Architectural Research 5, no. 1 (1976): 4–13.
• Kyung-Hoi Lee, Dong-Wook Han, Ho-Jin Lim, Passive design principles and techniques for folk houses in Cheju Island and Ullūng Island of Korea, Energy and Buildings, Volume 23, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 207-216,