Thomas Heatherwick envisions Seoul Biennale’s fifth edition

The Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (Seoul Biennale) marks its fifth edition and tenth year of operation in 2025.

Since its inaugural event in 2017, the Seoul Biennale has served as an experimental platform exploring innovative solutions to challenges faced by major global cities today.

For the fifth edition in 2025, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has appointed Thomas Heatherwick as General Director, known for his innovative design philosophy and creative vision, aiming to expand the foundation of architectural culture through dialogue that encompasses not only urban architecture but various cultural domains.

The fifth Seoul Biennale has chosen the theme “Radically More Human” to explore ways to make cities and buildings more joyful and engaging, reflecting the vision of a human-centered and climate-friendly future city.

Running from September to October 2025, the Seoul Biennale will host a “grand open dialogue” across the city. This citywide conversation will explore four key themes: how building exteriors affect pedestrians; the emotional impact of architectural design; how visual complexity in buildings influences our health and wellbeing; and ways to create enduring architecture that people love rather than buildings destined for demolition.

General Director Thomas Heatherwick will bring the theme to life through a large-scale public installation and various events and activity programs. The installation will take the form of a large-scale Jogakbo (Tapestry) that weaves together outcomes from dialogues between creators from various fields and Seoul-based communities.

Thomas Heatherwick stated, “Cities are humanity’s greatest monuments and our trace visible from space. Today’s cities and buildings need a new approach, one that puts human emotion at the center.” He added, “Seoul is the perfect place to embrace this challenge. Seoul possesses remarkable creativity and is evolving while looking to the future. Through the 5th Seoul Biennale, we aim to discover and share the essentials needed to make Seoul a more human space.”

Additionally, the General Director has proposed a key visual that intuitively expresses the theme to engage both domestic and international audiences. The design combines “Seoul” and “eye” through hand-drawn illustrations and text, conveying through the metaphor of a blinking eye an invitation to envision ways of creating more joyful and attractive cities and buildings.

From Monday, December 23, 2024, to Sunday, February 2, 2025, the Seoul Biennale is recruiting participating creators to complete the large-scale Jogakbo. The final ten selected creatives will exhibit their works at the fifth Seoul Biennale, following a process that includes theme interpretation, citizen engagement, and artwork development.

Applications are encouraged from diverse creators residing in Korea, regardless of nationality, gender, age, or career background. The following categories of creators are among those eligible to apply, though eligibility is not limited to these categories: creators active in various fields (architects, artists, photographers, videographers, fashion designers, etc.); creators with experience in collaborative work with Seoul-based communities; creators working with various media (textile, digital art, mixed media, installations, etc.); creators actively working in their respective fields within the past ten years.

Detailed information about the open call schedule and application process can be found on the Seoul Biennale website (seoulbiennale.org) and Instagram (@seoulbiennale).

Contact: sbau2025 [​at​] gmail.com.