Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kim
Design Portfolio
2016
Self Reflection.
Continuously evaluating and criticizing the world around me, the interest in
design came naturally. I constantly questioned how a purpose is fulfilled and
through what processes?
I approach design as a pursuit for meaning, rather than chasing immediate
results. It is through this, often the method process behind the design became
more important than the final manifestation. The method of understanding
a problem, the client or context became much more than an exercise, it
becomes a form of art in itself.
It is with this I seek constant insperation for new methods of design
observation, analysis, and experimentation. To me, the practice of creating
design became much more than just the built form; it has became about
producing meaning or stories through design.
Contents.
the figures on the horizon
1.
photographic journal
TTC Landscape design competition
*winning entry
2010
the lift
2.
Chatham
Farmers` market + Public Square
2010
2009-2010
8.
5.
7.
4.
2010-2013
the serosa
3.
6.
Architectural Photography
9.
Artistic Appendix
Canadian Pention Plan Investment Board
London Office - Interior Renovations
2012
10.
Sketch Record
2006-2012
Michael W. Kim
e. michael.kim.w@gmail.com
contacts.
project information.
employer: Brown + Storey Architects Inc.
date: 2010
location: Lakeshore and Leslie, Toronto
(Ashbridges Bay)
project: TTC Landscape Design
Competition *winning entry
role: design assistant, 3D imaging, model
production, render production.
the lift
project information.
firm: Brown + Storey Architects Inc.
date: 2010
location: William and King, Chatham
project: Chatham Farmers` market +
Public Square
role: design assistant, 3D imaging, graphic
designer, client package production,
render production.
the lift
What first began as a Chatham farmers` market pavilion, became a general public square
for Chatham. The proposal is a visionary work to encourage development in the particular
intersection. The pavilion is meant to house events ranging from: small community events and
galas to large major concerts and festivals. This meant that the space must be flexible enough
to transform from seating one thousand spectators to becoming an public open square with ease.
The strategy was to provide a large shelter, largely open and triangulated so that it requires only
three legs to open up as much circulation and visual connections as possible. Spaces near each
leg provide a more intimate environment, where the feeling of enclosure is much more evident,
where as the rest of the space, a large floating ceiling freely hovers over framing the streetscape
near by.
project information.
date: 2013-2015
role: Executive Director
project: BRIDGE centre for Arch. + Design
BRIDGE website
digital platform for BRIDGE
to engage globally to the
art and design community.
BRIDGE storefront
physical
platform
for
BRIDGE to engage with
the
immediate
local
community. The storefront
is used as a physical
medium
for
fostering
design and art interest in
the city of Cambridge.
BRIDGE Happenings...
Night of Postcards
Empty postcards were produced and distributed throughout the community asking them to draw
what anything that represented their idea of the city. Recieved over +500 postcards back and hosted
a gallery of all the postcards that were recieved.
BRIDGEcast
Started out with student applicants interested
in aquiring funding and space for their weekly
design podcast. The podcast was approved and
held weekly live recordings with live pedestrian
particiapnts.
ART BATTLE
BRIDGE hosted an event where artists applied to participate in live painting contest. Artists would
have set time painting a series or single artwork - where audiences vote who moves on to win the
competition or become eliminated.
Other Happenings...
BRIDGE hosted or financially supported art/
design/architecture projects all thoruhgout
the community. The storefront and the website
fostered design interest and helped the
community realize their artistic visions.
9:00 am
The landscape of the site can be seen as two layers. The lower
under layer is the plate that starts from the underground of
the 6th Avenue and slopes upwards towards 5th Avenue. The
second layer is landscape created by the height of the built
form of the site. This layer is a plate that slopes upwards
from 5th Avenue, towards 6th Avenue.
project information.
course: 3rd year theory project
date: 2009
location: Rockefeller center, New York
instructor: Ian McBurnie
project: through the eyes of an architect
team: Michael Kim, Farah Kabir, Nicholas
Bouthin, Ela Koraqe, Kayeon Lee
role: project lead/designer
To re-envision a master plan for the Rockefeller center through the vision of the firm FOA. To
be not only inspired, but with understanding of the firms manifesto, research, and prototyping
methods. Ultimately the project is to understand an architectural firms philosophy and methods.
With rockefeller center. The approach was, how can the iconic landscape be transformed and
interpreted through the eyes of FOA. The dynamic programming within the district, as well as
the vastly successful mix of each program. Major questions that were asked was: 1. How can
the pedestrian level be more interactive throughout the ground floor, underground, and above
ground floors. 2. How can the upper floors be more interactive between buildings. Making not
only the top or the ground floor most valuable, but increasing the in-between floors. Essentially
experimenting with the idea of sky-lobbies.
10:30am
2:00pm
4:30pm
March
December
12:00 pm
5:00 pm
project information.
employer: Building Arts Architects Inc.
date: 2011
location: 40 Portman Square, London,
United Kingdom
project: Canadian Pention Plan Investment
Board, London Office Interior
role: Construction drawings, detailing,
assistance with finishes.
The Canadian Pention Plan Investment Board Headquaters in London was to act as a prototype
for future CPPIB office interiors around the world. Design detailing and materials selected were
maticulously developed to be showcase what can be possible for their office interior. Tones and
textures selected for this office are natural and invoke a landscape within the interior of the
office.
The project was a big success, and many of the details and material selections developed through
this project are now being used in new CPPIB office renovations in Toronto.
photographic journal
function.
What does form generated through raw
function look like? Does it have character?
Does it generate dialog? Does it set a
certain atmosphere? There is a strange
phenomenon in which pure functionality
reveals its ties with its aesthetic agenda.
The two cannot be separated even at its
most unconscious state.
photographic journal
melody.
The city streets are full of melody.
Once architectural repetition can be
identified, a symphony of patterns and
accents, flood even the most average
or common sights into a masterpiece of
visual melody.
photographic journal
texture.
Often a secondary complement to an
already existing structured conversation.
Texture offers another layer of dialog.
The form implies, and the texture
reinforces. It plays a minor role as an
individual, but as a whole it becomes a
tide turning element.
photographic journal
movement.
Since architecture is a product of balance
in forces, movement of forces upon the
structure often become a part of the
visual experience. This movement is
often stretched, fabricated, and forced,
to make the laws of physics abide by the
laws and principles set by the architect
for the intention of the design.
photographic journal
the serosa
project information.
course: 3rd year Structures
date: 2008-2009
location: Toronto, Canada
instructor: Miljana Horvat
project: Canopy Design Competition
*winning entry
team: Michael Kim, Farah Kabir, Farhan
Durrani, Ela Koraqe, Kayeon Lee
role: project lead/designer
the serosa
The Distillery District is a heritage protected area in Toronto, Canada. The location attracts heavy
pedestrian traffic within the complex and its main circulation pathways. With heritage protected
distillery style architecture in its exterior, the interiors are renovated in a contemporary loft design
that houses several entertainment, dinning, and commercial functions. Due to its strict exterior
facade protection, the exterior pathways are bare and incapable of protecting pedestrians from
precipitation. During the colder seasons, the exterior bustle and life suffers due to its lack of
cover above. The design challenge was to address the issue of designing a canopy structure that
would make a welcomed addition to the distillery distr4ict both functionally and aesthetically.
Through this exercise, the design intent was challenged to contemplate what aesthetic would not
only benefit but re-enforce the heritage value of the surrounding architecture.
project information.
course: 4th year Thesis
date: 2009-2010
location: Chongqing, China
instructor: Ian McBurnie
advisors: Colin Ripley, Cheryl Atkinson,
Masha Etkind
project: Migrant Worker Housing
The city of Chongqing is thriving with activity and economic growth, but with such rapid urban
development there are always consequences.
Migrant workers are often the primary workforce for the economic boost that is fueling the rapid
growth of cities in China. This population growing well over 160 million in total population are
often neglected of rights and care. Seen as a dispensable population, used almost to a level
of slavery, although unfortunate, has proven to be an extremely valuable workforce in areas
of rapid growth, due to their acceptance of working in extreme conditions with low wages.
These migrant populations resided in close proximity to cities creating migrant worker slums.
These communities, often horizontal in nature, clustered, and made in a transient fashion, does
not reflect the often permanent unfortunate nature of the migrant worker population. Migrant
workers although transient at heart, are forced into a life of a permanence.
Migrant workers are being displaced from the city due to urban development, yet the city need
the labour force of the migrant workers, thus also needing a method of housing them.
M
1. Permanence vs.
transient ambiguity
2. Migrant worker
housing typology
concept.
Migrant
workers
prefer
a
rural arrangement of living
environment. A living typology
that emphasise community and
group dynamics. Spaces are
shared, social occurrences are
encouraged, and dependence on
one another is apparent. These
sets of micro communities are a
horizontal fabric element, but
due to urban context, a new
typology is needed to turn a
horizontal fabric into a vertical
one, without compromising the
living qualities preferred by the
migrant workers.
challenge.
The vertical courtyard housing system would incorporate sub
commons per each elevation, while maintaining a holistic
community as a building. The challenge was to create a vertical
connection through void and volume between each courtyard
without compromising the courtyard of each floor.
sponge courtyards.
units.
Street
Programing
Individual
units
are
designed
to
accommodate up to two people per unit.
Each dwelling unit are much smaller than
the average dwelling units of an apartment.
This was done to have the dwelling unit
exclusively for most private affairs and
rest. Other traditional activities that are
usually associated with dwelling units such
as kitchen, living room, etc. are shared
by the building commune. This method
of programming creates larger communal
spaces for the structure and its occupants.
sample spreads.
project information.
date: 2009
role: Editor
project: new launch of 325 magazine
Peter Zumthors
Visual Aesthetic
325 | 8
goes furthest in his call to Fix the Pritzker, stating, theres a real opportunity
to reorient architecture toward more
humane, socially engaged goals. Getting
rid of the Pritzkerat least as we know
it todaywould be a good start.
Additional, less-critical coverage includes Paul Goldberger fairly
typical portrait of Zumthors Quiet
Power, Richard Lacayos coverage
in Time Magazine, Thomas de Monchauxs essay on The Mystery of Peter
Zumthor and interviews with Zumthor
at The Architects Journal, with Blair
Kamin and with Edward Lifson.
Im interested in addressing
the critiques linked in the first paragraph above, ones that think Zumthor is
not a political architect because he does
not deal with what are held to be political issues, such as those mentioned by
Christopher Hawthorne. Politics in these
cases is defined one way, an engagement with government and its policies.
Architects are always dealing with
government, even if they are building a
relatively insignificant structure like a
hot dog stand, because they are follow-
ing codes, zoning and other rules established by governments. But Hawthorne
and others want architects to go beyond
this and engage governments in their
choice of commissions and their working
process, leading to buildings that formally express this engagement. I would
argue that these three parts of architecture (project selection, process, formal
product) are political in Zumthors work,
though not in
Shortly after the announcement of Peter Zumthor
as this years Pritzker Prize winner, critics took aim at the Swiss
architects focus on the aesthetic and experiential qualities
of space and his apparent lack
of politics or confrontation with
the myriad crises at hand today.
Examples include Christopher
Hawthornes assertion that
Zumthors work has nothing
to do with social activism, disaster relief, sustainability, new design software,
mega-cities, affordability or infrastructure -- all of which have crowded
together recently near the top of the
325 | 9
10
artistic appendix
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artistic appendix
A daily record of activities, inspiration,
and ideas rigorously recorded everywhere
I find them.
The habit of constantly sketching and
thirst for creative expression still
continues today. Everyday thoughts,
sketches of gestures, creative ideas,
design experiments, etc. were all
recorded and logged. It became so much
a part of my life that it became an
integral daily routine to pack my sketch
book and my favorite pens, much like
putting on a shoe.