The names of 24 designers commissioned to make a ‘Wall of Public Life’ for this year’s edition of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism have been revealed.

They have each been commissioned to create a fragment of a building, 2.4 by 4.8m, that reimagines how good the outsides of buildings can be. The designers come from a vast range of creative and cultural backgrounds. Some have never designed a building before.

They include the Korean American chef, Edward Lee, the British fashion designer, Stella McCartney, a group of artisans from Burkina Faso, and a car manufacturing team at Hyundai, alongside architects and engineers from India, Korea, China, Japan and the UK.   

Thomas Heatherwick, General Director of this year’s Seoul Biennale, said:

“These amazing Walls of Public Life are a giant, joyful clue that the outsides of everyday buildings could be so much better.”

“I want the public to take them as a real challenge to the bland, soulless surfaces of buildings that normally get imposed on us all. And I want developers to see the huge variety of Walls and think, ​why couldn’t some of that apply to a building I am working on? Why stick with what we’ve got, when something like this could transform our experience of living in cities?”

The main geographic focus of this year’s Seoul Biennale will be Songhyeon Green Plaza – a public park in the centre of the city. ​The south side of the park will feature a 90m long, 4 storey high installation called the Humanise Wall (휴머나이즈 월), designed to provoke a public conversation about the ways that buildings make us feel. The 24 Walls of Public life,​ (일상을 담은 거리의 벽들) positioned at the north end of the park, will create a space for thousands of people to explore how real buildings in the real world could become more joyful and engaging.

Here they will see:

– A wall made of broken brick and stone by the Korean architects, NAMELESS

– A wall encrusted with thorns and jewels by the British jeweller Stephen Webster

– A wall using Korean pine to create a communal structure, by the architect Francis Kéré

– And a wall being made live on site by a group of village artisans from Burkina Faso

Each one of these Walls of Public Life is designed to deliberately evoke an emotional response from the passers-by. They play with texture, colour, relief and pattern to create inspirational pieces, made from materials such as stone, resin, pine wood or mushroom that has been reclaimed, reused, reinvented or reapplied in beguiling new ways.

Describing his design, the chef Edward Lee said:

“For me, a restaurant should be a joy to people just walking by, and the outside should tell the story of the menu, the community, and the ingredients inside.”

Pritzker Prize laureate Francis Kéré shared the vision behind his work, stating:

“I imagined walls not as barriers but as bridges. One wall will be crafted from Korean pine, a material rich in local history and symbolism. The other will draw from the building traditions of Tiébélé, interpreted through Korean clay. Together, these two walls speak to a shared human story, reminding us that architecture is rooted in connection and community.”

Architect Youngsoo Kim of Moreless, one of five Korean design practices creating a Wall of Public Life, commented:

“In high-density cities like Seoul, balconies have become privatized and enclosed. We want to rediscover their essence as an active space mediating between the inside and outside, the private and public, the old and the new.
We hope our work helps people reimagine architecture as an essential human part of the urban landscape.”

Chang-su Lim, Director General of the Future Urban Space Planning Bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, added:

“The Walls of Public Life show how architecture can touch people’s emotions and change the face of a city. The Seoul Metropolitan Government will continue to support the development of warm and emotionally resonant public architecture that is open and inclusive to all.”

 

The 24 design teams commissioned to design a Wall of Public Life are:

a.co.lab, an inter-disciplinary, research-oriented architecture practice

Anomalia, an experimental design practice working through architecture, spatial experiences, furniture, and installations.

Anupama Kundoo Architects, a design practice exploring health, happiness and wellbeing

Arup, a global design, engineering and sustainability consultancy with expertise across more than 150 disciplines

Bapossan Alempoua & Asseta Idogo, Burkinabè artists reviving Tiébélé’s painted façade tradition to celebrate heritage and kinship

Bureau de Change, a London-based architecture practice

Edward Lee, a celebrated Korean-American chef, author, and restaurateur

Hankuk Carbon, a composites manufacturer, pioneering pre-impregnated fibres

Hawkins\Brown, an architecture, urban and interior designers practice based in the UK, Ireland and Canada, collaborating with London artist Richard Woods

Hyundai Motor Company, a multinational automotive manufacturer

Kengo Kuma & Associates, a multi-award-winning Japanese architecture practice

Kéré Architecture, founded by the Pritzker Prize-winning Burkinabé-German architect Francis Kéré

Korean Furniture Museum, which exhibits late Joseon wooden furniture

MAD Architects, a global design practice founded by Ma Yansong

Moreless Architects, a Seoul-based architecture studio pursuing subtly beautiful spaces

Ozwald Boateng OBE, an English fashion tailor

NAMELESS Architecture, an idea-driven design office based in Seoul

Ronald Rael, Architect, Artist, and Professor at The University of California Berkeley

SOSU Architects, a Korean architecture firm based in Seoul

Stella McCartney, fashion designer, creative director and founder of Stella McCartney

Stephen Webster, a British jeweller and advocate of ethically sourced materials

Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, founders of Amateur Architecture Studio

Yinka Shonibare, an artist whose work examines race, class and cultural identity

YOAP Architects, an architecture practice that explores sustainable enjoyment