About

City Garden Studio is an architecture and garden craft studio founded in 2010 by Helmina Kim in Berkeley, California. Helmina holds a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from The Cooper Union in New York City. Prior to relocating to the Bay Area, she earned a Permaculture Design Certificate which was completed as part of a one month hands-on training and residency in Queensland, Australia. She has volunteered at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley and completed a 12 week Bay Area Farmer Training Certificate sponsored by MESA (The Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture) and Planting Justice.

Helmina is a registered Architect with extensive experience in design, permitting and project management for residential, commercial, and institutional projects. Her main focus is on sustainable design for residential clients and community oriented projects incorporating urban farming and kitchen gardens. 

She believes that good design can improve our lives by improving the aesthetics, efficiency and comfort of the spaces we inhabit every day. At a broader scale, she feels that designers have a responsibility to go beyond aesthetics to play a regenerative role in our urban communities.