John C. H. Kim
Dubai, UAE
Principal | Design Director | Board of Directors
As a Design Director and Principal for master planning and hospitality, John delivers intensity and passion for the creative process. His ability to harness innovative and strategic thinking with the architectural design process transforms the built environment into an experiential masterpiece, a key for any destination development. He brings his design expertise to each of his projects, first crafting a visual story and then transforming clients’ opinions into tangible destinations.
Throughout his career, John worked as a creative and design director for major architecture, exhibit design, and communication firms, providing architecture, design, advertising, marketing, and creative management experience solutions. John has a Bachelor of Architecture from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University and has lived and worked in the US, Hong Kong, Australia, and Dubai.
John believes that architecture is the perfect amalgamation of poetry and engineering. While a space must be functional, it also must be meaningful, visually stimulating, and provide for a better environment for the community. It must be programmatically sound and allow users to inhabit the space. John acts as the gatekeeper of the project vision and ensures that the final construction is a unified reflection of these characteristics.
In his designs, John draws from client aspirations, the site context, nature, and even memories. His intuitive approach grants him the ability to recreate experiences for users of the space, utilizing colors and structures with carefully selected silhouettes that together evoke emotional responses. Seeing his projects come to life, impact communities, and architecturally create a story has garnered him international accolades and recognition.
Education:
Bachelor of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 1991
Membership of Professional Associations:
Registered Architect, New Jersey, USA, 1994