Faculty

Profile

Kimberly Serrano Tate (she/they/we) is an architectural designer, embodied design researcher–practitioner, and culture builder whose work bridges Leyte, Philippines and Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, New York. Her interdisciplinary practice explores how material research, somatic knowledge, and community co-design can nurture belonging, expand cultural imagination, and advance design justice across homeland–diaspora contexts.

She is the founder of Bambulawan, a bamboo architectural craft and design-build studio in Burauen, Leyte. Centering bamboo craft as cultural technology, Bambulawan develops imaginative natural building and community-centered projects while growing local capacity and laying the foundations for a modern bamboo industry in the region. Rooted in Waray ecological heritage, the studio works to strengthen climate resilience, grow sustainable local livelihoods, and expand cultural imagination around bamboo as a viable, future-facing material. Working closely with artisans, growers, youth, and cultural workers, Kimberly’s practice cultivates pathways for cultural regeneration and homeland–diaspora exchange—offering grounded, globally relevant models of sustainable design.

Her movement experiment DANCITECTURE uses contemplative somatic inquiry and collective ritual within improvised tape labyrinths to honor ancestors, acknowledge collective grief, transmute shame, and restore joy. She has created programs with Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts, Walang Hiya NYC, Moving Rasa, and other community-based organizations across New York and the Philippines.

At Parsons School of Design, Kimberly teaches MFA and BFA Interior Design studios that center embodied design methodologies, culturally specific frameworks, co-design practices, and community-rooted approaches for spatial justice and cultural renewal.

Degrees Held

M. Arch Parsons School of Design, The New School

BA, University of Missouri 

Recent Publications

Design Makes Sense. 2025. “Kimberly Tate.” August 1, 2025. https://www.designmakessense.org/kimberly-tate

"Parcon in the Park," written in collaboration with Andrew Suseno. Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly, Issue 24, SOMATICS, by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, Summer 2018

"Feeling into Deep Ancestry: Holding my Child While the Earth is Holding Me," Kultivating Kapwa: Decolonizing Parenthood Episode 3.15, Center for Babaylan Studies podcast, 6 March 2022

Performances and Appearances

Tandang Sora Project with Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts, part the Monument Lab Re:Generation project (2022)

DANCITECTURE #16: Labyrinth for Embodied Dreaming, Parkside Plaza, Brooklyn (2019)

Village Matriarchs Sanctuary of Rest and Dreaming, Common Field Convening (2021)

Research Interests

Embodied & Somatic Design

• Embodied design methodologies
• Somatics and movement-based inquiry
• Trauma-informed and healing-centered pedagogy

Material & Ecological Research

• Bamboo craft, cultural technology, and material ecologies
• Natural and earth-based building practices
• Bioregional heritage and climate-resilient design

Cultural & Decolonial Practice

• Decolonial and culturally rooted design frameworks
• Homeland–diaspora exchange and cross-regional knowledge transmission
• Cultural regeneration and intergenerational storytelling

Community & Social Innovation

• Community co-design and participatory spatial practices
• BIPOC/AAPI/Filipinx community wellness
• Social innovation in rural and diasporic contexts

Spatial, Artistic & Experiential Work

• Architecture, interiority, and spatial justice
• Installation, public art, and performance
• Experiential and sensory design

Awards And Honors

Tishman Environment and Design Faculty Grant

Laudromat Project Create Change Fellowship

SVA Design for Social Innovation, Designer in Residence

Portfolio

Bambulawan

kimberlytate.com

dancitecture.com