Green roof tops Daum Communications / Ilshin Building, Seoul, Korea Seoul is not known for it eco-friendly building designs, but a couple of buildings I encountered recently, which have significant green roofs, have made me thinks that there may be hope yet for this city. A Green roof according the Wikipedia: A green roof is…
Category: architecture
Seoul, 15 years ago
Click image to view slideshow of Mapo redevelopment, 1994 Digging through some old photos, I found this set I took in 1994, of Mapo area, in Seoul. This area had been home to many informal settlers (so called “moon village” or 달동네) but had been “condemned” to be redeveloped and replaced by more of Seoul’s…
Cities: the future of humanity
Here’s a presentation file for a lecture that I gave at my alma mater Yonsei University. Keep in mind this was an invited lecture to undergrad student in the architecture program as part of a class that fulfills their urban design requirement (read: not very academic). Cities and the future of humanity View more Microsoft…
Hong Kong trip and thoughts on social business
Click image to view slideshow of the Hong Kong trip, May 22-23, 2009 The last time I visited Hong Kong was in 1989. Some things have indeed changed. For one thing, it’s part of China now. Also the skyline has many new additions, including the 88-floor (415m) 2 International Finance Centre tower, which is apparently…
International Symposium: Hanoi 2030
Hanoi 2030: International Symposium As if working on the 1st Report for the Hanoi master plan was not enough, between our reports to the Vietnam government steering committee and the Prime Minister, we held a 2-day international symposium April 21-22. The main goal of the symposium was to gain a better understanding of Hanoi within…
Hanoi: the first sustainable capital by 2030
Hanoi master plan 2030: first report to the Vietnamese government I’ve spent the most part of the March and April preparing the first formal report to the Vietnamese government for the project I am working on for JINA Architects: The Hanoi Capital Construction Master Plan to 2030 and Vision to 2050. This is a project…
The walkable Hanoi: a half-day tour
A half-day walk through Hanoi Hanoi is a walkable city. You would never know this with all the traffic overflowing in the streets. Of course the locals will prefer to ride their scooters. It’s actually dangerous to cross the streets when you are overwhelmed by bicycle motorcycle, automobiles and bus traffic coming from all directions,…
Postcards from Central Vietnam
Old Town, Hoi An, Vietnam I took a weekend trip to central Vietnam a few weeks ago. We arrived in Da Nang and took a taxi south to Hoi An. Hoi An seems to be known for 2 things: beach resorts and its Old Town designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999. Maybe I…
Hanoi: Think Different
Panorama view from 25th floor of Hanoi Towers * Hanoi Panorama The view from the penthouse suite balcony of the Somerset Grand Hanoi, a.k.a Hanoi Towers is pretty amazing. We’ve been looking for more economic alternatives for accommodations in Hanoi since we’ll visiting and working in Hanoi on a regular basis for the next year…
New Job, New City
JINA Architects I formally started working at JINA Architects on September 1, as an Associate Partner. After a 9 year hiatus, I am back in architecture. Well not quite. It’s urbanism. JINA Architects is a more than a design studio. It’s currently has about 140 staff, a huge growth from having just over 30 a…