Exploring Tectonic Space: The Architecture of Jong Soung Kimm

Seoul-based architect Jong Soung Kimm’s roots are in Korea, but his formative years were spent in Chicago–as a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology and later in the office of Mies van der Rohe. From 1961 to 1972–van der Rohe’s final and most prolific years–Kimm worked on iconic projects like the older architect’s last commission, the meticulously crafted Brown Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 1978, Kimm returned to Seoul, opening his own architectural design consultancy, SAC International. For the past 30 years, Kimm’s buildings - such as the Weightlifting Gymnasium for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art in Kyongju–have evinced both an admiration for Mies and a Korean sensibility. This volume is a much-needed comprehensive look at Kimm’s oeuvre, which infuses Mies’ principles of tectonics with his own reliance on intuition.