Jungyoon Kim is the founding principal of PARKKIM, a Seoul-based landscape architectural firm practicing beyond the conventional boundary of the profession, and an Assistant Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at Harvard GSD.
She founded the firm with Yoon-Jin Park in Rotterdam upon their winning of the Taiwan Chichi Earthquake Memorial Design Competition (2004) and completed projects with diverse scales and nature, ranging from corporate landscape to civic venues, including Seoul Museum of Craft Art (2021), Yanghwa Riverfront (2011), CJ Blossom Park (2015), and Triple Street Shopping Mall (2016). Her ongoing research and teaching at the GSD concern the role of the landscape architecture discipline in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Kim published the book ‘Alternative Nature’ (2016), co-authored with Park, a compilation of articles written by the two principals in various media since 2001. The term ‘alternative nature’ was first presented in their essay ‘Gangnam Alternative Nature: The Experience of Nature without Parks’, published in the book ‘Asian Alterity (ed. William Lim, Singapore: 2007)’, rethinking the concept of ‘natural’ within the context of contemporary East Asian urbanism. Their forthcoming book (to be published by ACTAR in 2024), titled also ‘Alternative Nature,’ will be PARKKIM’s first monograph in English.
Kim was selected as the ‘Design Leader of Next Generation’ (2007), awarded by the Korean Ministry of Commerce, and appointed to ‘Seoul Public Architect’ (2011) by the Metropolitan Government Seoul. She was also a Park Design Commissioner of Gwanggyo New City (2008-2010). Her continued engagement in design teaching has enriched her practice, and vice versa, in prestigious institutions, such as Wageningen University and Seoul National University. She was honorably appointed to the Glimcher Distinguished Visiting Professor by Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University (2011).
She received a Master of Landscape Architecture from the GSD and a Bachelor of Agriculture from Seoul National University with distinction.
