The City of Seoul has unveiled its master plan for the 5th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, exploring the theme of “Radically More Human”. The announcement took place at the British Embassy in Seoul where Thomas Heatherwick, the General Director of this year’s Biennale, presented his vision and programme.
This year’s Seoul Biennale will be held from Friday 26 September to Tuesday 18 November at venues including Songhyeon Green Plaza and the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture. This will be a global event and feature four exhibitions along with a major global conference and a host of citizen-led, public engagement programmes.
The curatorial goal of all this activity is to spark a public conversation about how to make the outsides of buildings more joyful and engaging. The Seoul Biennale will examine how building design affects our brains, our bodies, and society, and invite the public to think about how cities make them feel and how to create buildings that will be loved and last.
The opening ceremony will be followed by a two-day global conference called “Emotional City” on 27 and 28 September. This forum will gather 400 scientists, developers, designers and communities to discuss ground-breaking research, citizen-led projects, and creative interventions by Seoul-based artists.
The centrepiece of the whole Biennale will be a 90-meter-long, 16-meter-high architectural structure, called the Humanise Wall, and 24 installations that reimagine the relationship between people and buildings. The Humanise Wall creates a platform for the ideas and experience of nine creative community projects in Seoul, while the 24 installations are being made by designers from around the world including 5 Korean architecture studios:
Kim Mi-hee & Ko Seok-hong (Sosu Architects)
Kim Young-soo (More or Less Architects)
Na Eun-jung & Yoo So-rae (Nameless Architecture)
Jeong Sang-gyeong, Ryu In-geun & Kim Do-ran (Yoap Architects)
Jeong Isaac & Hong Jin-pyo (Akolab)
Meanwhile, at the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture, three exhibitions focused on citizen interaction will take place:
The Cities Exhibition reinterprets city architecture through the lens of the “skin” of the building. It features 21 architectural projects from 17 cities in 15 countries, including works by Herzog & de Meuron (Switzerland), Bruther (France), Neri & Hu (China), and Cox Architecture (Australia).
The Seoul Exhibition provides an intuitive view of Seoul’s transformation through its major buildings — past, present, and future.
The Global Studio offers an interactive exhibition based on architectural images submitted by the public. It will use AI to generate collages of images and music based on keywords used by contributors, enabling a real-time emotional dialogue with visitors.
In addition, special citizen-participation programmes are planned this year to help visitors understand the theme and express their thoughts and emotions. They include:
– “Draw It”: An experience-based activity where participants choose and sketch architectural facades
that catch their eye.
– “Discover It”: A city exploration programme to uncover Seoul’s hidden urban landscape.
– “Feel It”: Featuring lectures from experts in psychology, art, and history focused
on the emotions evoked by facades.
A group of eight university student reporters will also actively cover the Biennale. They will deliver easy-to-engage content for the public on the exhibitions and programmes. The reporter group will launch with an inaugural event on June 18 (Wednesday), marking 100 days before the opening.
Prior to this announcement, the City of Seoul and the British Embassy signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for cultural cooperation in the field of urban architecture, through which the British Embassy pledges to:
– Support participation of British artists in the Biennale
– Promote and share innovative urban architectural practice
– Build a network of public and private experts
– Host an Open House tour programme during the Biennale
to encourage greater citizen participation
British Ambassador Colin James Crooks stated:
“This year’s Seoul Biennale, led by pioneering British designer Thomas Heatherwick, is a symbolic event showcasing the synergy between British creativity and Korean dynamism. It meaningfully contributes to the reinvention of urban landscapes and cultural identities. The UK and Korea continue to closely collaborate in the cultural and creative sectors, and under the leadership of the Seoul Mayor, Seoul is establishing itself as a global creative city. I look forward to the LOI signed today becoming a foundation for diverse cultural exchanges.”
Details about the 5th Seoul Biennale can be found on the official website (seoulbiennale.org) and Instagram (@seoulbiennale).