IYAGI CONVERSATIONS
IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT


BRYAN KIM

















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IYAGI is Korean for CONVERSATION.

Conversation is the exchange of ideas, information, and emotions between two entities. In architecture, conversations manifest as dynamic interactions across multiple scales, from materiality to urbanism.

Listed projects serve as mediators that integrate diverse scales (human / non-human) into a cohesive whole. They shape conversations between users, materials, spaces, urban lives, and environments, fostering a dynamic built environment. Through design, buildings shape their context, facilitating dialogues between past and present, tradition and innovation, the built and the organic.

These ongoing interactions ensure that architecture remains a living, responsive medium—one that continuously negotiates relationships between people, places, and the external forces that shape them. Therefore, my projects are not merely static objects but active participants of an ever-evolving conversation in our built environment.











conversations with  
 1. The City
2. The Water
3. The Heat
4. The Wood

THERMOSTRATA

conversations with the heat
  • Spring 2024

  • Instructor: Liz Galvez
  • Collaborator: Mike Ren



Thermo-strata transforms the South Phoenix Methodist Church to serve a marginalized, low-income community. Stakeholders contacted institutions to design an inclusive, accessible hub that promotes social equity and resilience through educational programs on heat risk and weatherization. The design creates communal spaces that enhance human connection, provide a safe haven during emergencies, and promote overall health and resilience.

Design strategy involves cascading roofs that facilitate buoyancy ventilation, harnessing natural airflow to reduce reliance on mechanical cooling. It prioritizes mechanically cooled nested spaces instead of cooling the whole assembly. Exterior walls with large embodied thermal mass act as heat sinks, absorbing excess heat during the day and releasing it at night, while being insulated on the outside to maintain interior thermal comfort.

This guideline for material selection utilizes repurposing existing CMU blocks into thermal mass, which are insulated with sustainable batt/denim insulation to create effective heat sinks. The design reduces building costs by incorporating off-the-shelf blinds for passive solar control.  This approach demonstrates a commitment to resource efficiency,  promoting ease of access and practical solutions in building design.










Initial Research | Blinds
Blinds are commonly found in households and stores. The project began from research into the banal object that holds a lot of potential to prevent overheating in spaces.

When used correctly, blinds can reduce heat loss by 45% and heat gain by 35%. The diagrams become a basis for uncovering the power of ordinary and domestic objects when it comes to cooling.






















Thermal Cascade
Thermal cascade is achieved through ascending ceiling heights based on program and activity.

This creates buoyancy ventilation that stacks hot air towards the top during the day. Overnight, the clerestory windows open up to let the heat out of the building.

Through buoyancy ventilation, the building preserves the mechanically cooled air longer, reducing the need for excessive reliance on mechanical systems.