John Hong

Modernist

Awards

• AIA Young Architects Award 2006
• Asian Cultural Complex, Honorable Mention 2005
• Holcim Foundation, Sustainable Encouragement Prize 2005
• Metropolis Next Generation Prize 2004
• BSA/AIA NY Housing Design Award 2004
• BSA Honor Award Citation 2004
  

Recommended reading

• The Practice of Everyday Life by Michel de Certeau (2002);
• Illuminations by Walter Benjamin (1968);
• Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn (1990);
• Metropolis Magazine;
• www.usgbc.org (US Green Building Council website).

Published

Our work has been featured in Metropolis Magazine, Dwell Magazine, The Boston Globe, and many other publications..

Q&A

What started you on the path toward sustainability?

Growing up in Northern Virginia, I personally witnessed the transformation of small-lot suburbs and farmlands into what was even at that time unbelievable sprawl. In high school, my friends and I nicknamed the Tyson's Corner, Virginia, phenomenon as the new "ice age"-instead of the rapid encroachment of icebergs, however, it was asphalt and generic buildings that quickly encrusted the landscape.

Who inspired you, or nurtured your talent?

The University of Virginia is an incredible community of architectural educators and students. At the time, sustainability wasn't a "hot" issue, but the deferential role of architecture to landscape was always an important topic. Then, of course, at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, there were great professors and fellow students that helped me learn how to think critically.

What gives you hope in your industry?

The architectural education really sets one up to identify and solve problems. As a profession we are really making some positive steps-now even speculative developers are naming sustainability as a major agenda.

What worries you most in this area?

The romantic and retroactive relationship to aesthetics we have in this country is a cause for worry. My fellow principal Jinhee Park notes the potential relationship between minimalism and sustainability. Architecture has to step into new formal and programmatic territories to deal with density and sustainability on a real level, but we are hindered by the cultural expectations for what a building should look like instead of what it does.

What advice do you give to young people who want to make a difference in the world?

Go for it!

What is the role of technology in sustainable design?

Technology and sustainable design are completely enmeshed. Interrelationships between natural and artificial systems and environments will be able to be more opportunistically addressed through new software and hardware.