Professional Profile: Austin Eun Sakong 2020
Austin Eun SakongName: Austin Eun Sakong
Title: Senior Associate
Company: FXCollaborative
Location: New York, NY
Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea
Education: Bachelor of Architecture from The Cooper Union, Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University
First job: Other than internships, my first paycheck was from working in the warehouse at the local mall.
First job in real estate or allied field: I ran a model shop for an architecture firm in SoHo.
What do you do now and what are you planning for the future? As an architect, my day job is to design schools. I also teach at Columbia and NYU, and serve as a commissioner on the Historic Preservation Commission of Jersey City, where I live. As for the future, what I’m most interested in now is meeting other people of my own generation who are doing multiple things, in multiple rooms, starting multiple conversations.
How do you unwind from a busy day? I cook. I blast music, I leave my phone in another room, I pour myself a glass of wine, and I start searing or dicing or seasoning.
Favorite book or author: Books that have moved me most recently include The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt; A Thousand Small Sanities by Adam Gopnik; The Game of Forgetting by Mohammed Berrada; Possessed By Memory by Harold Bloom.
Favorite movie: Recently I’ve been reminiscing about Wong Kar Wai’s early stuff: Fallen Angels, Chungking Express.
Last song/album that you purchased/downloaded? “The Dream Before” by Laurie Anderson
One word to describe your work environment: Supportive.
Rules to live by in business: Speak up.
If you could invite one person to dinner (living or dead, but not related to you) who would it be and where would you go? Stephen Sondheim, anywhere with a piano and a bar.
What is your DREAM job? (something other than your current job) I’d love to write a book. Or more precisely—since I find writing excruciating—I’d love to just do a bunch of research for a book.