Q: Where are you from?
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles. It’s a stereotypical suburb with very little of interest. Though the actual neighborhood was fairly boring, the upside to living there was its central location to both downtown proper and Malibu beach. Everything was a 25-30 minute drive away.
Q: Where did you go to school?
I went to Berkeley, which is when I moved up to the Bay Area. College was a great experience. It was my first time living on my own while meeting a ton of new people. Plus, I loved the food. I actually ended up staying in Berkeley a year after graduation before moving up to San Francisco.
Q: Tell me about your family.
Both my parents emigrated from Korea. My mom stayed at home while my dad was a dental technician/ceramicist. He made dental veneers, which was decently lucrative in LA. Lots of people want nice teeth there.
I have two younger brothers, Humsheen and Humjune (gets confusing, I know). My parents put us in the same group activities when we were younger. I think we all secretly chafed at the same forced interests; we’ve since greatly diverged in our studies and hobbies. Humsheen recently moved up to San Francisco to work in software at Pinterest. Humjune is living in Santa Cruz, but I don’t actually know what he’s doing. Last I heard, he was working at a chocolate confectionary as a baker.
Q: When did you first develop an interest in architecture?
Growing up I had no exposure to architecture. I didn’t know anyone who worked in the industry. When it became time to choose a major for college, I decided on architecture almost on a whim. Therefore, I was thoroughly pleased that I did, in fact, love architecture: the layered scales of design and its applied nature. I liked that there were rigorous problem solving constraints behind the art.
Q: What kinds of projects do you most enjoy working on?
I’ve enjoyed small scale projects where I can go deep into detailing and idiosyncratic considerations of each client & house. I like staying involved with the interiors, specing fixtures, finishes, and designing casework. I would love to work on a super sustainable house sometime in the future.
Q: How long have you worked at Feldman Architecture?
I’ve worked here since fall of 2013. I was a contractor until becoming full time in 2014. My first job out of college was working as an intern at Steven’s old company. I ended up joining him when he made his transition here.
Q: What makes our office unique?
Well, it’s the only one I’ve been exposed to so far. I’ve heard horror stories from my friends though. Architects may go to school for design, but when they get promoted or start their own business, they suddenly become business managers who lack the fundamentals of running a business. Compared to other places, the fact that we even have staff meetings on Mondays is unique. There is a level of transparency in this office that I greatly appreciate.
Q: What’s your favorite part about coming to work?
The people. I’ve been here a really long time so I’ve gotten to know a lot of the team. Everyone here is very easy to work with. The variation of tasks alone makes each day feel different.
Q: Describe your ideal weekend
I’d be camping– either on a road trip or backpacking. Currently, I really want to visit Montana, where I’ve never been. I’ve mostly camped in California, but I recently went on a van trip in the southwest. Every day we went to a different national park, while hiking most of the day. It was pretty perfect.
My favorite place to backpack is the John Muir Trail. My housemate recently did a month long trek from Yosemite to Whitney.
Q: Do you have a professional role model?
I don’t like role models in general, but I have firms that I really like. My current favorite is Snohetta, they’re based in Oslo and New York, but they do have a satellite office in San Francisco during their time working on the SF MOMA addition. I like their portfolio of work. It would be really exciting to design big, public spaces like opera houses and museums. They are a multifaceted design firm, complete with their own branding division.
Q: What’s your design process like?
A lot of iterative sketching. There is a lot of inspiration online. I feel like that could easily turn into a crutch, but reference images and case studies are often very helpful. It’s important to always be cognizant of the site context; we aren’t designing on blank tableaus.
Q: If you could live forever, would you?
You know, there’s a difference between immortality and invulnerability. If I was just immortal, definitely. I think I would explore nature with all my free time. I would never run of out places to explore, even with multiple lifetimes. A lot of the bad rep around immortality comes from people thinking they would get bored. But so much is happening and technology is ramping up! The future is exciting so I’d like to see it.