Seoul Design
International Forum
서울디자인국제포럼

Humanising our Cities

Heatherwick Studio believes that emotion is the crucial ingredient that is missing in so much of design today. When did everything become so boring and homogenous? Who is really thinking about how to make buildings, places and objects mean something to us - to lift our spirits and connect us? How can we make our cities more human? World-renowned designer Thomas Heatherwick will outline his thoughts around how designers and policy makers can create more human places, and explain how a fundamental understanding of emotion has shaped how Heatherwick Studio works across all scales and typologies. Thomas Heatherwick is one of the UK’s most prolific designers, whose varied work over two decades is characterised by its originality, inventiveness and humanity. Defying conventional classifications, Thomas founded his studio in 1994 to bring together architecture, urban planning, product design and interiors into a single creative workspace. Working across multiple scales, locations and typologies, Heatherwick Studio has developed into a team of 200 makers and inventors with no signature style. Lead by human experience rather than any fixed dogma, the studio create emotionally compelling places and objects with the smallest possible climate shadow. From their base in London, the studio team is currently working on over 30 projects in ten countries, including Azabudai Hills, a six-hectare mixed-use development in the centre of Tokyo, the new headquarters for Google in Silicon Valley and London (in collaboration with Bjarke Ingels Group) and Airo, an electric car that cleans the air as it drives. The studio has also recently completed Little Island, a park and performance space on the Hudson River in New York; the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town; and Coal Drops Yard, a major new retail district in King’s Cross, London. Thomas’ forthcoming book, Humanise, will be published by Penguin in 2023

2023 Seoul Design International Forum 'Seoul Mind Garden Guro Family Counseling Center where you can take care of a healthy mind'

Hello, I'm Lee Ju-young, and I'm a supporter of the 2023 Seoul Design International Forum. Today, let's check what Seoul Design is and the Mind garden that applies Seoul Design with me. What about Seoul Design International Forum? The Seoul Design International Forum is held every year. The 2022 Seoul Design International Forum held last year was a forum under the theme of "Design x Seoul: How Design Enrichs the Future." Through various urban examples, we were able to learn how design can be combined with municipal areas such as welfare, culture, and transportation. The 2023 Seoul Design International Forum "Humanizing Cities: Human, Design, City" is with global designers, architects, and experts, you will be able to learn about the role of public design as an "urban alchemist" who can promote new experiences in the public realm, create memories, and even drive the city's competitiveness through collective memory.

2023 Seoul Design International Forum: New Universe, Docking Seoul

Seoul Design International Forum! Do you know about the Seoul Design International Forum? The Seoul Design International Forum is held every year, and it is a huge venue for expanding our view of design and moving in a better direction around the city. In the meantime, we have moved toward forming a consensus and spreading awareness of social problem-solving design through excellent policies such as social problem-solving design, universal design, and sharing success stories and know-how to improve citizens' lives, enhance city values, change citizens' daily lives, and experience concrete examples.

Thomas Heatherwick: Capturing Emotions

“Emotions are a very important element that makes architecture meaningful. The emotions embedded in architecture lift people’s spirits and form a connection between people. The emotional impact of architecture on us is enormous – Thomas Heather Wick." “Thomas Heatherwick” is considered to be one of the most notable and genius designers among contemporary British designers, to the point where he is nicknamed ‘Britain’s Da Vinci.’ As one of the world's most prolific designers, he has created 'Heather Wick'-like works that combine his unrivaled genius and passionate humanity through his diverse work over the past 20 years. Thomas Heatherwick founded “Heatherwick Studio” in 1994 to create more creative work that crosses all boundaries, including urban planning, architecture, interior design, and product design. Headquartered in King's Cross, London, we employ around 200 architects, designers, craftsmen and technicians.

Seoul Design International Forum 2023

Seoul Metropolitan Government has been carrying out discussions on the present and the future of the design of Seoul that is desired by citizens through the Seoul Design International Forum. We would like to carry out discussions on how our city, Seoul, is currently being illuminated with participants by inviting the best-in class speakers who are global designers, architects and experts in the field, under the vision of 'Humanising Cities' that is not being prioritized at all while being taken for granted. Moreover, we believe that you will be able to promote new experiences and generate new memories in the public realm through this forum, and we think you will be able to gain strong insights on the role of public design as the 'alchemist of the city' that can strongly enhance even the competitiveness of the city through that collective memory. It is no exaggeration to say that today's city is the most powerful online/offline platform that enables hyperconnectivity. We hope that Seoul Design International Forum to be held on September 14th will be a precious venue to imagine innovative ideas together and apply them to the public realm.

Design for All: A Visit to the Pedestrian Pathways in Olympic Park

What is Seoul Design? Seoul Design is a design version of Seoul that increases the competitiveness of the city and allows anyone to lead a happy life in response to the challenges faced by the community due to various global issues. To solve various problems encountered in everyday life, we develop creative and sustainable design solutions to create a safe, convenient, and win-win urban environment. Using public design technology, we are leading the world city through innovative technologies and designs that reflect the unique characteristics of the city, and forming a design community that is considered together by many experts, industries, and citizens. As a student majoring in architectural engineering, I think the public design and the Seoul design policy of Seoul City around us are valuable resources that make life convenient for many citizens.

In the DDP where the Seoul Design International Forum was held, let's feel Seoul's own public design!!

The Seoul Design International Forum is held annually, and last year, the 2022 Seoul Design International Forum was held under the theme "DESIGN x Seoul: How Design Enrichs the Future." The SDIF Seoul Design International Forum offers insights on how various designs and designs can be combined with municipalities such as welfare, culture, and transportation to strategically promote collaboration within an organization and advance the overall level of service in a municipal administration.

Architect in action, Shigeru Ban: The power of space and architecture

Can designers help humanity? I've had this thought before. If the Earth enters a post-apocalyptic era (like the destruction of the Earth or the end of humanity, which appears quite often in movies), only a small group of people who are essential for the survival of humanity can take shelter, cab architects or space designers should join that group? This is also a light question about whether architects or space designers are doing the work necessary for our society and humanity. Of course, my personal opinion is that they should join the group. First of all, it would be difficult to create a shelter without an architect or space expert. Otherwise, wouldn't the place become a crucible of chaos? The subtitle of the book <Paper Architecture in Action> (2019, Minumsa publishing) written by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is ‘What can architects do for society?’ From the public's point of view, rather than from the fields of architecture, space, or design, architecture is a tangible entity that creates the landscape of a city. Most people recognize architecture as a landmark, a base, or something that symbolizes something. The lifespan of architecture is also quite long, or more accurately, it should be long, so the experience of architecture is difficult to be fragmented or specific.

A city that everyone wants to visit and live in - Design Seoul 2.0

It is quite interesting that the English word ‘space’, which means ‘universe’, also means space. For a long time, philosophers have also interpreted the universe as one of ‘space.’ If the place commonly referred to as ‘space’ is not limited to places with physical walls or boundaries such as houses, schools, offices, and cafes, then ‘cities’ can also be seen as the space in which we live. In that respect, urban design is close to spatial design in a broad sense. Because we all live within the city, setting boundaries and stepping on the land. The appearance of various parts of the city is also the appearance of our space and the way we live.

Design of a sensory healing counseling space that helps mental health recovery

# “It was the best counseling room I’ve ever seen, and I think the counseling will go well.” # “It feels like I am in a hotel VIP room and receiving special treatment.” -Reviews from clients who received counseling at ‘Mind Garden’- # “Counseling is conducted with a welcoming spirit toward the client, which increases self-esteem and self-efficacy as a counselor.” -Review from a counselor who provided counseling at ‘Mind Garden’-

Seoul Metropolitan Government creates the “Yard for Centenarians” at welfare service centers and parks near homes for daily prevention of dementia

- Development of a spacial design for physical, emotional and social activities of senior citizens to prepare for prolonged pandemic and super-aged society - Applied to Songpa Senior Welfare Service Center for the first time, 200㎡ scale construction…Mayor Oh Se-hoon will visit the site on the 13th - Exercise equipment to strengthen muscles for performing daily activities, emotional healing area, e.g., gardening and exhibition, social exchange area, e.g., stage and games - An “age-friendly environment,” where people can gain access and live long and healthy in their living areas…Four additional yards by next March

Public Design and Platform Media Facade of Communication

Platform media facade of communication in the city New platform is now required for a city image that incorporates the storytelling based on the regional/historical identity as the need to improve the aged downtown (original downtown) is being emphasized. Therefore, there are more municipal governments that desire to re-brand various parts of cities that are aiming towards the fourth industrial cities for citizens and visitors who come to cities. Cities are scrambling to develop the public design system and to transform into future cities. Panaplex-type bus shelters are being installed as DID (Digital Infotainment Display) that enable mobile-linked interactive functions, and the city maps are being implemented in various parts of the cities as AI information that is guided by idols, along with experiential AR/VR media. Although it may be partial, ecosystem evolution that uses media that aims for comprehensive media in key hub cities is transforming cities in line with the hyper-connected era through activities such as pilot operation of unmanned vehicles.

Public Space and Design for Everyday Lives of Citizens

City is an inevitable space of life for the modern people. The skyline that we are currently experiencing, the plaza, parks, natural environments and so forth are mostly the result of the city plan that was systemized in the past, and until now, the urban space was planned to play its role in line with the usage that was planned and defined based on function. Various parts of cities that achieved industrial competitiveness by prioritizing efficiency and economics is far from ‘user-centric approaches’ and achieving ‘sustainability’ that is the focus of today’s society. Future city should be restructured into a space that can enable exchange and circulation based on the needs and the thoughts of citizens or stakeholders of local communities, and aged spaces and the environment should be improved to resolve urban issues.

Resource Circulation of the City and Sustainable Design

The life system of today’s humanity is the result of economic growth, and problems that major cities face are mainly focused on areas that can be resolved by technological advancement and economic growth, such as poverty and illness. However rapid growth and advancement across the globe led to qualitative diversification of urban issues, and the humanity focused on the concept of sustainable development and limit in growth resulting from social imbalance and unsustainable phenomenon that are being observeds regardless of region. The concept of sustainability was first mentioned in the report, The Limits to Growth written by the Club of Rome in 1972. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED,1987) defined ‘sustainability’ as ‘development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’, and it is recently being used broadly across economic, management, climate, environmental and national policies and private activities.

Design for Public Service Platform

1. Digital platform of public service Public service based on digital platform is emerging as the most important factor in the competitiveness of a nation and a city. In 2020, Korea ranked 8th in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking announced by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, which was a 2-step rise from 10th position in 2019, to show its potential in the digital field. Also, in the government index announced by OECD, Korea is exhibiting strength and performance in digital-based public service by achieving 1st place in digital by design government, 2nd place in government as a platform, 3rd place in data-driven government, 1st place in open by default government, 4th place in user driven government and 12th place in proactiveness of government. Seoul is also making efforts to drive innovation in public service based on excellent digital infrastructure, and moreover, there is a demand to resolve problems in a way that can be felt by our citizens and achieve transformation in terms of creating sustainable and real values.

Public Design Governance

Last month, a “Consultative Group of Residents for Publilc Design” was established by Seongdong-gu District Office. It was the nation’s first consultative body in design that engaged residents and consisted of eight residents, four expert members, two design experts and one public officer. Through the consultative group, the district was able to quickly collect residents’ opinions about relevant projects including the one related to public design and combined experts’ advice thereby setting a direction for design. It was designed to become a channel to communicate with the residents. In today’s multifaceted and complex modern society, existing design process that produces an outcome by utilizing intuitive ideas of only few designers has often turned out to be insufficient to meet the needs of the citizens. In response, this has shed a light on the need to come up with an innovative method to engage citizens, cooperate with stakeholders and experts for higher level of self-reliance and sustainability. The word “public” in public design means an unspecified number of the general public and together, which incorporates a value of engaging various players and cooperating in the process to create a design intended for everyone. The strategy that is being used to realize the afore-mentioned value of public design is a governance taking a perspective of “various methods for problem-solving.”

Universal Design City Paradigm for a Better Urban Future

The term “Universal Design” is a philosophy about “designing for everyone”, which means designing products, buildings, cities, information, services, etc. to be used by as many as users as possible in a safe and equitable manner, regardless of users’ gender, age, language, status of disability, level of knowledge, etc.

Public design for people, cooperative public design

Design has always evolved as a meaningful means to achieve an objective or a part that is required in the society. Currently, active efforts are being made to resolve the issues of economy, environment and safety through design. In the recent times where we are transcending the era of industrialization to usher in the era of sustainability, design that improves the competitive industrial products is beginning to contribute to our society as design that improves public values as a part of the strategy to resolve problems from the perspective that design is changing in line with the demand of the society. ‘Public design’ is playing a leading role at the center, and from now on, 'design' will resolve a considerable number of issues that our society will face, and it will be making various contributions as a cultural pillar of life.