Mikyoung Kim, FASLA is an American landscape architect, urban designer, and founding principal of Mikyoung Kim Design. Kim has received the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and the American Society of Landscape Architects National Design Medal. Her studio was named by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative architecture firms.
Early life and education
Mikyoung Kim was born in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
in 1967. She initially aimed for a career as a concert pianist until she developed
tendinitis
Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...
in her early 20s.
While at Oberlin College, Kim also studied sculpture. She graduated with a BS in Sculpture/Art History in 1989. She subsequently studied landscape architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, graduating in 1992. At Harvard, she studied concurrently at the GSD and at the MIT VES (Visual and Environmental Studies) department, developing designs, sculpture, installations and videos. While at Harvard, she was the Norman T. Newton Scholar and received the Jacob Weidenmann Prize for Design.
Work
Mikyoung Kim Design
Kim's projects include the ChonGae Canal restoration in
Seoul, Korea
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, TMC Helix Park at the Texas Medical Center
Houston, TX
Houston ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat of Harris County, as well as the principal city of ...
, the Crown Sky Garden in
Chicago, IL
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Plaza at the Prudential at 888 Boylston in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, the John Hancock Tower Roof Garden in Boston, MA, and Pier 4 Seaport Plaza in Boston, MA. The firm is best known for designing healing gardens, including the Crown Sky Garden at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, the Boston Children's Hospital Green Urban Design, and the Miami Healing Garden at the Jackson South Community Hospital.
The ChonGae Canal in Seoul, South Korea opened in 2005. The Canal includes the conversion of one of the city's polluted waterways into a local amenity that attracts 90,000 pedestrians a day.
Teaching
In 1994 she became a full time faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design
and opened her own firm in Boston, MA. She was a professor at Rhode Island School of Design from 1994 to 2012 and was the Department Head at RISD
for five years. She has taught a variety of design and sculpture studios and seminars.
Since 2012, Kim has held a Professor Emerita position. She has also taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 2017 to 2018 as a Design Critic in Landscape Architecture. In Fall 2018 Kim held the Glimcher Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University.
Recent Awards
2022: American Society of Landscape Architects, Firm Awar
American Society of Landscape Architects
2019: Mikyoung Kim Design awarded Fast Company Worlds Most Innovative Companies - Architecture
2010: Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design, Harvard University for ChonGae Canal in Seoul, South Korea - Architecture
References
External links
Mikyoung Kim Design HomepageLandscape Architecture Magazine: Where We Get Stronger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Mikyoung
Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni
Rhode Island School of Design faculty
Living people
Oberlin College alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Urban designers
American women landscape architects
American environmental artists