shinwoo ahn

Worked under a contractor with a heavy background in Japanese carpentry, assisting in building homes and office, learning relationships built between parties in the process of completing a project.

A Good Place to Land

ARCH 402 | Timber Tsunami Shelter | Spring 2022 | Rob Corser Submission for Buildner Timber Pavillion 2022 Competition

Celebrating Tradition

ARCH 404 | Native Community Hub | Winter 2022 | AnnMarie Borys In Collaboration with Nayana Cardoso & Rowan Skye

Process of Pollination

ARCH 300 | Seed Vault | Fall 2020 | Mariana Gutheim

Personal Works

A Good Place to Land

Kalaloch is a region located on the coast of the Olympic Peninsula which borders the Pacific Ocean. The region is familiar to the Quinault Nation and has served as safe landing zones for dugout canoes.

A tsunami has repeatedly consumed the Olympic Peninsula with the cadence of 200 to 500 years. The coast is due soon with another wave. A high magnitude earthquake will alarm any campers and residents of the disaster soon to come. The altitude of the tsunami will be 65 feet above sea level and 35 feet above the campground. It will take approximately 15 minutes for the wave to reach the shore after the earthquake. Thankfully, a 10 minute walk up the hill will provide safe grounds.

The site also hugs the Olympic National Park which cultures many species of trees: Mountain Hemlock, Western Hemlock, Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Yellow Cedar, and Western Red Cedar. Along the shore, there exists what the locals call the Tree of Life, a Sitka Spruce tree that has withstood the high winds and the high tides of the ocean. Adapting to the climate, the tree has warped and twisted, but remains strong even with its roots stripped of soil.

The west most tower, closest to the campground, serves as a beacon to the evacuation route. Along the way up towards the east, there are the same towers as before, yet to be finished. At the safe-from-tsunami height there is a 4416 sqft lofted woodshop that invites people in to take shelter.

The woodshop transforms trees, driftwood, and other usable timber materials into canoes, furniture, sculptures, and structural parts for building the yet-to-be-finished-beacons that led people to the woodshop. The visitors is given the freedom to fill in the “blanks” of the unfinished beacons with the use of the wood working studio.

After the disaster passes and the water has faded, the refugees hug and celebrate. Following their rejoice, they wander through what the tsunami has left. People who stood 34 ft above on the head of the sanctuary find evidence below of a space that created the structures for the towers. The survivors slug and observe tower to tower, and see the strength of structures, as they have endured and fought. Then, as people walk down the beach, there is the Tree of Life, still surviving. So, they thank. They thank the creators that strengthened the timber for the towers. They thank the people in the past that have built the pillars. They thank the trees that have protected and battled.