My name is Miles Hiura. I am a Japanese-Korean American raised in Los Angeles, shaped by two very different worlds within my own family. On my Mother's side, they are GLOBAL. Although she is Korean, she was raised in Madrid, where Spanish, her first language. Her family is spread across Barcelona, Thailand, and Los Angeles, and growing up, I spent my summers traveling between them, immersed in new cultures and ways of life. On my father’s side, their life was rooted in place. My dad was born in Eagle Rock and raised by my grandparents, Grace Yasuda and Clarence Hiura, who met in Japanese internment camps during World War II. Their lives, shaped by resilience and stability, remained in Los Angeles. Unlike my mother’s family, they never traveled or even owned passports. They built their lives in one place, and that place became everything.

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Living between these two perspectives, one global and one grounded, shaped how I see the world. I was exposed not only to different cultures, but to different definitions of home and belonging. That contrast drives my work today. It has led me to think deeply about how we design the places people live, and how we can create communities that offer both the richness of global perspective and the comfort of stability. I want to build environments that encourage connection, longevity, and a sense of belonging, especially for those who, like my father’s family, have always called one place home.

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