He was born in South Korea but having an architect for a father has led to him growing up around the globe, from Saipan, an island in the Pacific, to Cape Town in South Africa. As a high schooler there he witnessed the replacement of slums along the waterfront by new developments. He was impressed by the positive impact a well-designed social housing plan can have.
‘It really opened my eyes. I started noticing that in a city everything is designed, not just buildings and roads, also chairs, doors, windows. It is like the air you breathe; you hardly ever think about it. But the choices made by design can have a huge impact’.
He did a bachelor in architecture at the university in Cardiff, Wales. There he discovered his love for the technical side to architecture and for the role of computing in engineering. His interest in building technology led him to also study structural engineering. He came to TU Delft to do a master, and worked for a while in a British architectural firm in Rotterdam.
‘I looked around for places to apply and found ZJA to be rather unique. They are not too big but have a very international work force. And, they approach architectural design with a close tie to the question of how to make and build things. They merge structural thinking and architectural thinking. The best feeling is that you can come up with a design and do your own tests and discover that it actually works, that it is sound’.
He describes his use of spare time as ‘probably boring in most people’s eyes’. He goes to the gym, watches Netflix and teaches Korean architecture students online, how to build and improve their portfolios. He says it is also a great way to hear new and challenging ideas and keep up to speed with new technical developments.