LAND GSD: Dongsei Kim “Borders as Urbanism: Operating in the Global”

“Borders as Urbanism: Operating in the Global is the first in the Critical Conversations: Beyond the GSD lecture series sponsored by LANDGSD that invites recent graduates of the Advanced Studies Program to return and discuss the evolution of their thesis research in the years following graduation.

According to Dongsei Kim’s MDesS thesis from the Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology concentration titled  BORDER AS URBANISM: Redrawing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea:

“The ‘border as urbanism’ first reconceptualizes and expands the notion of borders in design disciplines and geopolitics. It helps designers understand the basic notion of ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’ and how ‘us’ and ‘them’ are defined at multiple scales over time by expanding the definition of urbanism. Lastly, it provides an additional methodology in which uncharted border conditions in contestation such as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of Korea can be compared and analyzed with its own specificity.”

In this talk, Kim will describe the evolution of this research topic through teaching, conference lectures, and further research since graduating in 2012. 

Kim is a registered architect and urban designer with 10 years of professional experience in Wellington, Seoul, and New York. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture at Columbia University. He holds a Master in Design Studies with Distinction from Harvard University, Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors from Victoria University of Wellington.

Kim’s research focuses on understanding how borders and their territories can influence the way designers construct inclusion and exclusion in urbanism. His work on this topic has been recognized internationally.  

He also has extensive international teaching experience including; RMIT University, Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada), Kyunghee University (Suwon, Korea), Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). He was the 1st Prize Winner in the Grand Concourse International Ideas competition in NYC, 2009, and while practicing at CCM Architects in Wellington he worked on several NZIA regional and national award-winning projects. He is a registered architect with the New Zealand Registered Architects Board (NZRAB) and Architect Member of New Zealand Institute of Architects (ANZIA) since 2007.”

LAND GSD

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