Based in Daejeon, Korea, City as Nature is a collaborative effort working with an international cast of people and organizations across multiple disciplines. The organization was founded and is directed by Suhee Kang and Patrick M. Lydon.
Co-Founders
Patrick M. Lydon
art & media projectsPatrick can usually be found near a chalk board or messy stacks of paper with scribbles on them. This is where he comes up with the concepts for our arts and media projects. He writes much of our content, conceptualizes ecological urbanist utopias, and also builds furniture for the studio, and roasts coffee for editorial meetings.
An internationally exhibited artist, writer, and filmmaker, Lydon grew up in Silicon Valley, and later spent several years living nomadically, while learning from farmers, philosophers, and monks. He studied at San Jose State University (BA), Aichi University of Art, and The University of Edinburgh (MFA), and is the arts editor for The Nature of Cities (New York).
Patrick’s Website
Suhee Kang
community & garden projectsSuhee is our community outreach director and coordinator. You will usually find her in the garden because she loves growing herbs. In addition to managing our pocket gardens, Suhee sews patches on worn-out clothes, and teaches people how to make their own herbal teas and tinctures.
Born in Seoul, Suhee has worked as a writer and photographer, traveling throughout the Middle-East, Europe and Asia to engage with the traditional ways of living. She was previously the editor at Booksense, a leading publisher of social and ecological titles in Korea. She holds a degree in media and journalism from Sungkyunkwan University, and is a certified herbalist.
Suhee’s Blog
Advisory Board
Robin Lasser
Art Professor & Program Coordinator, San Jose State University
San Jose, United States
Patrice Milillo
Director, Art is Power
Los Angeles, United States
Dr. Gunwoo (Noah) Park
CEO, Project Noah, Inc.
Seoul, Korea
Kaori Tsuji
Chef & Ecological Producer
Kobe, Japan
Carla Vitantonio
NGO Director
Havana, Cuba
Collaborators
A partial list of collaborators on past and present projects…
Chris Fremantle
Arts Producer and Researcher / Ayrshire, Scotland
Ikumasa Hayashi
Curator / Nagoya, Japan
Harumi Ikegame
Clothing and Textile Artist / Kobe, Japan
Yasutaka Kaneda
Community Designer, Co.to.hana / Osaka, Japan
Dr. David Maddox
Executive Director, The Nature of Cities / New York, United States
Elizabeth Ogilvie
Artist and Producer / Fife, Scotland
Heeyoung Park
Animator / Strasbourg, France
Ninian Stuart
Director of Strategy, Centre for Stewardship / Falkland, Scotland
Isao Suizu
Professor, Aichi University of the Arts / Nagoya, Japan
Tomo Yamamoto
Residency Director, Air Osaka Hostel / Osaka, Japan
Raymond Yeung
Artist / New York City, United States
Partner Organizations and Sponsors
A list of organizations (both present and past) that we have engaged with either as partners or sponsors, to produce our projects
Aichi University of the Arts / Japan
AIR Osaka / Osaka, Japan
Chishima Foundation for Creative Osaka / Japan
Co.to.hana / Osaka, Japan
Contemporary Art Space Osaka / Japan
Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh / Scotland
Flow Tales / Spaces of Culture / Turkey
Forum for Radical Imagination on Environmental Cultures (FRIEC) / Global
Lateral Lab / Scotland
Minna Nouen / Osaka, Japan
N3 Art Lab / Yamaguchi, Japan
Robert Callender International Residency for Young Artists / Scotland
Sasakawa Foundation / Great Britain
Seoul Youth Hub / South Korea
Setouchi International Triennale / Japan
Small House / Dajeon, South Korea
Space Noah / Seoul, South Korea
The Nature of Cities / New York, United States
Value Garden / Seoul, South Korea
Yamaguchi Institute of Contemporary Art / Japan
Value Garden / Seoul, South Korea
Yamaguchi Institute of Contemporary Art / Japan
Artists in Residence
These creative young people have worked with us as artists in residence on focused projects, while developing their understanding of global social and ecological issues, and how these issues integrate with their own creative practice.
2016 — Pattarapol Leemeechoke (Thailand)
Study Area: Industrial Design, Illustration
Project: REALtimeFOOD, local economy product design
2015 — Katya Kozary and Amelia Robertson (United Kingdom)
Study Area: Film, Health Sciences
Project: REALtimeFOOD, video documentary
2013/14 — Heeyoung Park (Korea)
Study Area: Animation, Illustration
Project: Final Straw Documentary, “Little Light” animation
2011/12 — Eri Mizushima (United States)
Study Area: Graphic Design, Biological Sciences
Project: SocieCity website development, illustration and design
2012 — Chiaki Koyama (United States)
Study Area: Graphic Design, Illustration
Project: SocieCity, Bicycle boulevard concept design