Issuu

kim

portfolio 2025

michael

01.....COMMERCE LAGOON: A BATHHOUSE/WATER TREATMENT FACILITY

02......SANTA ANA MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING: A MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT

03......................................ABSTRACTING CRAFT: A MAKERSPACE/MUSEUM

04.....................................................BETWEEN WORLDS: END-OF-LIFE CARE

commerce lagoon: water treatment/public bathing facilities

commerce, california in collaboration with Chris Palominos

This project is a water treatment facility and bathhouse located in the City of Commerce. The city is mostly industrial, filled with warehouses and utility infrastructure that keep the region running but often overlook the small residential community nearby. The project looks for ways to reconnect these two worlds and give residents a stronger sense of connection to the systems that shape their city.

The site sits between three main elements: Veterans Memorial Park, the Laguna Bell Reservoir, and the Rio Hondo Bike Path. The proposal transforms the bike path into a designed landscape and water treatment facility that extends the park and connects it to the reservoir. This creates a new continuous public space that blends infrastructure, recreation, and education.

A bathhouse is integrated into the facility to invite residents to engage with the process of water purification in a more personal way. The design is made up of five modular roof structures supported by steel trusses. Four contain the phases of water treatment including sedimentation, filtration, disinfection, and exhibition, while the fifth holds the bathhouse. The repeated geometry connects the project to its industrial setting, while the curving ground forms guide circulation and movement below.

The project turns a utilitarian process into a civic experience, showing how infrastructure can be both functional and human.

1/32" = 1' plan

5' - 5" Mar. 2024

0' - 0" Jun. 2024

section a

1/16" = 1'

5' - 5" Mar. 2024

0' - 0" Jun. 2024

section a

1/16" = 1'

section b

1/16" = 1'

santa ana multi-family housing: a mixed-use development

santa ana, california

This project is a mixed-use housing development located in Santa Ana, right on the edge of the industrial district where small businesses and light industry meet a growing need for housing. The main goal was to create a residential environment that connects to its surroundings while softening the transition between industrial and domestic scales.

The design explores the relationship between solid and void, expressed through material contrast. Softer white stucco volumes and trim elements are treated as voids carved out of a larger, darker mass clad in corrugated metal panels, reflecting the area’s industrial character. The play between these materials helps define the identity of the project and roots it in its context.

On the ground floor, commercial and retail spaces, amenities, and live/work units engage the street. Above, a mix of studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms supports a variety of living situations. At the center of the block, a large courtyard opens up to create a shared outdoor space for residents, bringing in light, air, and views while maintaining privacy.

The project relies on simple construction methods and detailing to balance the industrial context with a softer, more residential presence.

GLASS CURTAIN WALL

STUCCO

GLASS CURTAIN WALL

Stacked Wall Section

3/4" = 1' 1

Parapet to Window Axon 1

Balcony Axon

abstracting craft: a makerspace/museum

fashion district, los angeles -03-

This project is a makerspace and museum located on the west edge of the Fashion District in Los Angeles, right next to the 10 Freeway and near LATTC. The area’s background in technical education and craft informed the program of a makerspace intended to serve as a resource for students, hobbyists, artists, and makers in general.

The main idea for the project focuses on the relationship between analog and digital craft and how that relationship can be expressed through design. Today, digital tools and automated machines allow us to create precise and almost perfect objects. The project reflects on this condition by exploring how the imperfections of analog craft can inform digital design and representation. In this sense, digital craft becomes an abstraction of analog craft, translating the gestures and irregularities of hand-making into spatial and representational form.

The design is composed of found objects, half of which are icons of product design and mass production, while the other half are artifacts of physical making, such as scrap, leftover, or imperfect pieces I collected from various makerspaces, woodshops, and metal shops. These objects are placed within a steel column grid structure, but they are intentionally misaligned and subtly rotated to evoke the feeling of something

Rendered Site Plan

Site Plan

3rd Floor Plan

Section A

Section

Final Model Southeast Elevation

Final Model Southwest Elevation

between worlds: end-of-life care

little ethiopia, los angeles -04-

This project explores how architecture can express emotional transitions through form, rhythm, and atmosphere. It began with a short film that alternated between two emotional worlds, one light and one heavy. As the film progressed, these shifts became faster until they collapsed into silence and stillness. That movement from chaos to calm became the foundation for the design.

The building is composed of five staggered towers that hold the more active communal spaces such as dining, wellness, and administrative areas. Between these towers, smaller rotated volumes contain the private rooms for patients and caregivers. This arrangement creates a rhythm of movement and pause, mirroring the emotional sequence of the film.

A material study using rubber bands helped guide the approach. When wrapped around wooden frames, the rubber bands produced a moiré effect that appeared to shift as the viewer moved past. This study became a way to think about movement and constant change, which shaped the overall design language of the project. The architecture moves between communal and private spaces, between active and passive conditions, holding stillness and movement together in balance.