Interview
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Online Platform as a center for Seoul Design
The boundaries are becoming blurry. The restriction of time and space and the limit of subjects no longer apply when solving common problems and creating new value. Nowadays, various subjects, including online and offline environments, virtual and real worlds, industrial and public domains, and city governments and citizens, are preparing for the future in different areas. The new dimension of energy manifested from combinations that jump over the boundaries is a catalyst to solve daily problems and solidify the city that provides the base for everyday life. -
Special Interview: Rico Quirindongo
As civil servants, our responsibility is to serve the needs of our cities, our citizens, and our diverse communities. To improve the value of our cities and lives of our citizens through design, we must start by listening to our communities, particularly marginalized communities of color, hear from our citizens what they need to be supported, how they can be uplifted, and how they have been underserved. That input and education needs to be institutionalized and iterative. With that data and interaction, city governments should use that information to inform and coordinate our infrastructure and capital investments, our placemaking efforts, and our policy decisions. -
Special Interview: Jeffrey Shumaker
First of all, I am very happy to hear that the City of Seoul is continuing to emphasize the importance of design. For me, an emphasis on design must mean benefitting the broader public and should include an emphasis on the design of the public realm: the city’s streets, parks, promenades and plazas. Every new private development must give back to the city in some way, and this usually means either expanding or enhancing the public realm. It is an important role that the city plays: to leverage all private development for the public good and ensure that every new building is a good citizen of the city. -
Special Interview: Blaž Križnik
Design aims to address diverse needs and resolve problems in everyday life. In this sense, it is the social value, social innovation, and social responsibility that make up the very idea of design. At the same time, it is important for design, as an innovative and responsible social practice, not only to improve the quality of everyday life of citizens but also to enable and empower citizens to ‘design’ their everyday life on their terms. This can be achieved through community design for various reasons. First, community design focuses on citizens. -
Special Interview: Joanna Frank
At the Center for Active Design (CfAD), we translate rigorous public health research into practical tools to support healthier buildings and communities. Decades of research have demonstrated that our built environment—or the buildings, streets, and neighborhoods where we live, work, play, move, study, relax, pray and socialize—has a major influence on our health and well-being. The design, maintenance, and governance of cites shape our daily experiences, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced this understanding that public health is a cornerstone that enables the functioning and strengthening of our society.