KIMBERLY WONG
Kimberly is a Canadian-born Chinese in her final year of the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Growing up, she often roamed creeks and forests with her three sisters and parents, which deeply instilled the importance of environmental care across all scales. Moving away from her background in tech-startups and shipbuilding, and transitioning into the creative, passion-filled world of design felt like a scary change, yet a big sigh of relief. Kimberly has a growing interest in bioremediation, active industrial sites, and improving mental health through design. In her free time, Kimberly is often found tending to her plants (19 and counting!), going on walks with her two senior dogs (with puppy energy), or learning a new instrument.
Where are you from?
My parents are from Hong Kong and I was born in Vancouver, BC.
What is your favorite dish?
There are too many to name, but I could never say no to a crispy green onion pancake or fresh bbq pork bun.
Three additional fun facts
My family celebrates holidays with a mix of Hong Kong, Canadian, and Chinese traditions.
My grandparents used to grow vegetables in the backyard, including leaves we would use in soup.
I have a really big extended family, yet we are very tight-knit.
Celebrating the In-Between
What inspired you to study landscape architecture?
Once I found out that landscape architecture even existed, I was so excited! Who knew there would be an actual career that was the exact combination of things I wanted to do with my life! Creativity? Design? Planting? Building? Increasing biodiversity? Helping the public? Check!
Name a woman architect (preferably Asian or Pacific Islander) who most influenced you as an emerging professional? Why or How did they?
Candy Chang! Although not practicing as an architect in the formal or technical sense, she was trained in it!
Candy Chang was (and still is) a huge influence on me as a designer. She constantly shows us that public spaces can bring people together to embrace vulnerability and heal. So much of her work invites the public to participate, and I think she really embodies our goal to design for the WHOLE public.
Before I Die in New Orleans by Candy Chang. Image courtesy of Candy Chang.
Name a favorite project completed by a Woman Architect (preferably Asian or Pacific Islander). Why is it your favorite?
Before I Die (2011- present) by Candy Chang.
I learned about this project in one of my last classes in business school. It is a very simple, thoughtful design that has now been recreated in over 75 different countries – you might’ve heard of it. She painted the side of an abandoned house in New Orleans with chalkboard paint and wrote “Before I die… I want to___” , inviting people to fill the blanks with all sorts of hopes for the future.
I love this project because it shows that we all have a shared sense of humanity and mortality. Maybe you live in the neighbourhood and you fill it out with your family; maybe you just passed by and read a couple lines; maybe you’ve seen one of the over 5000 Before I Die walls around the world. Either way, this project continuously exposes our vulnerability and empathy in a time when we tend to only share the best parts of our lives.
Widgeon Marsh in Coquitlam, BC. One of our beautiful field trips. Image courtesy of Kimberly Wong.
How does your culture/ethnicity affect your studies and the way you design?
Like many children of immigrants, I tend to fall in an “in-between”. I’m ethnically Chinese, but I was born in Canada. I don’t identify with either fully, nor do I feel completely connected with other Canadian-born Chinese. I like to think this gives me a special kind of empathy though. Though this experience, I know that even among seemingly tight-knit communities, there can still be an intense sense of isolation. The way I design hopefully acknowledges that no one fits into a perfect checkbox.
My family also taught me to treat my things well, conserve energy and water, and reduce my waste. Having this engrained in me from a young age helped me recognize my place in our connected environment, and the role we have to take care of it.
In-progress review board for our design (THE ISLANDSCAPE) of East Park, Vancouver, BC. Team: Kimberly Wong, Chris Rothery, Kelly Kang, Wanhui Fang. Miro is the new pinup wall. Image courtesy of Kimberly Wong.
What is your favorite memory in architecture school or work? Why?
I’m currently in my last year of studies, so I guess this is a memory from pre-covid times.
Right now, as much as I love the commute when working from home (I literally take four steps to get to my desk), I miss being in studio with my cohort. No online lecture or virtual “social” event can replicate the little conversations you have from walking around and looking at others’ work.
Also, field trips! I even miss the field trips that would take 2+ hours in the cold and pouring rain! Trying to figure out unknown plants using a mix of memory, Googling, and plant identification apps really isn’t the same as learning from someone who dedicated their time to teach us.
If you were able to talk to your younger self, what would you say?
Hey Kim, guess what? You CAN actually have a career doing something creative! A job and a creative outlet don’t need to be two separate things. You can even do it during the weekdays and someone might even pay you for it. Amazing, right?
What would you want to say to the next generation of aspiring Asian and Pacific Islander women architects/designers?
You bring a unique and incredibly valuable perspective to our discipline, and it’s equally as valid as any of your peers. What you once thought were your weaknesses can become your strengths. It might be how many languages you speak (even if you don’t speak it “well enough” for your standards), it might be an understanding of different foods (even if you were made fun of it as a kid), or even what it’s like to be a woman living in the world physically designed for men. Your life experiences have taught you to bridge others’ thoughts, ideas, and experiences. You have a special power that can help create more inclusive designs for everyone.
In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wish would happen and it did not? This can be in an educational or work atmosphere.
While my school has been actively working on equity, diversity, and inclusion, I wish things would move faster in hiring more diverse teachers and inviting more diverse guest critics – not just ethnically, but in experience, education, age, and more. We’re learning to design for the public. Shouldn’t we have mentors that represent that?
Drawing the New Normal: get“away” by Kimberly Wong, 2020 (from the “Living in a Bubble” studio led by Mari Fujita). This map of southwest British Columbia represents the increase in domestic travel we are seeing worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Image courtesy of Kimberly Wong.
