Talks
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.Architect as social innovator
This presentation focuses on the projects led by MVRDV, a self-declared social innovators group, to explore how architecture can function as a tool for social innovation. In cities we live in, there are many conflicting values such as natural elements versus artificial factors, the desire to concentrate intensely versus the desire to keep some distance, and physical architectural spaces versus people who use the spaces. MVRDV believes that we can move beyond the dichotomy of conflicts and leverage creative design to drive social innovation.Public design to enrich people's lives
The design for human life requires insights into intrinsic values. To fulfill this mission, the GK Design Group, which consists of companies specialized in 12 diverse fields, has operated as a comprehensive design creative group celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. With six offices in Japan and six overseas, a diverse and devoted group of 200+ designers with creativity and expertise are teaming up in a total of 12 bases and cross-functioning on different projects with their corresponding design capabilities to provide comprehensive design. Since urban environment design involves many more elements to consider than other areas, we carry out urban environment or public space design projects by collaborating on six areas: product, transportation, environment, communication, design strategy, and engineering to create integrated values and design.Cities, Design, and the Future
In 1999, the Clinton administration proposed the ‘Livable Communities’ initiative and emphasized the quality of life as an urban competitiveness. Cities that are ‘great to live in’ or ‘appealing to live in’ are without a doubt one of the policy priorities of all local governments and citizens. However, compared to the previous practice in which the policies focused on a materialized life in the physical space of a city, the ‘quality of life’ is an abstract concept that is perceived differently by people. Thus, forming policy agenda around the idea may not be so simple. Instead of focusing on the physical concept of a city, drawing attention to residents and understanding communities as a group of people who reside in a city are crucial when it comes to the dialogue on the quality of life in cities. In this sense, it’s important for residents to identify themselves as agents of living and active participants who plan their own lives.Life Design for Well-Leaving through Well-Living
Life design for well-leaving through well-living is a very significant theme for all of us to understand. Through this presentation, I would like to share my personal experience regarding care design at the final stage of life and further discuss how such design can be proposed as a policyPanel-discussion
The Seoul Design International Forum is being held under the theme of ‘How does design enrich our future?’. Presentations in the forum explained the issues of the urban environment that we face from various perspectives and proposed countermeasures. We will now have a panel discussion to hear the opinions our panels based on the contents that were presented today.‘Design x Seoul’, the Role of Design in the Public Administration of Seoul City
This year’s Seoul Design International Forum is held under the theme of ‘Design x Seoul’. The underlying idea is that when the design is incorporated into the city of Seoul where we live, our citizens will have greater exposure to joyful, enriching experiences. A city that gives its citizens the joy of life – what does it look like? We feel happier in a pleasant place where everyone is respected and can share quality time together.Using architecture to design shared ecosystems
Humans are linear social animals, who have great interest in each other as well as many other places. Gehl has been pursuing human-centered designs for a very long time. As we are faced with climate change and various social issues, we recognized the increasing significance of relational resilience, and that the relationships between humans, animals, nature, plants, and the environment are important. In this context, our work and approach are grounded in connectivity, kindness, courtesy, and a dignified experience for all, and examples can be found all over the world. Just as you dine or have a drink with friends on public benches and small tables to take a rest, small but generous gestures and designs for the public end up providing connectivity and kindness for all.Creating shared value through the responsible design of dynamic systems
In times like these, design is more valuable and important than ever. The complexity and uncertainty around us continues to accelerate at unprecedented speed. There are global racial tensions and reconing, interrogations of every aspect of our businesses, new wars, new political leaders, and of course the global pandemic that shifted everything around us—it has been a shock to the system, to all of our systems. How quickly and thoughtfully we can evolve our organizations in responsive and regenerative ways, the better we will be able to navigate these challenging times. In this presentation, I would like to introduce global design firm IDEO and then talk through large-scale system design cases by using a human-centered lens focused on the creation of shared value.3rd Pre-forum for 2022 Seoul Design International Forum Part3
TALK 3. Value of the public design shaped together with citizens3rd Pre-forum for 2022 Seoul Design International Forum Part2
TALK 2. Values in daily lives that were changed by the public design3rd Pre-forum for 2022 Seoul Design International Forum Part1
TALK 1. Value of custom public design that is easy to understand and is convenient2022 SDIF_Promo Video
2022 SDIF_Promo VideoSeoul Design International Forum 2022
Based on the vision to “Create Value through Design,” the Seoul Metropolitan Government implements its various design policies ranging from the macro plans for landscape to the micro plans for service improvement. To ensure that citizens can fully savor the attractiveness of natural environment and spaces across the city and enjoy thoughtful care and respect, the role of design in the future society will be even greater. This forum held with the theme, “DESIGN x Seoul : How Does Design Enrich Our Future,” will learn how design serves as an engine for enhancing values of cities through various examples of cities. Also, it will review how citizens in those cities enjoy these value.Policy direction identified from the analysis of the diffusion process of Life Safety (Crime Prevention) Design
The anonymous cities that we have been building allowed us to have maximum freedom and make various choices, however, inappropriately, the cities have mercilessly reduced many alternative choices such as collective community action that were available in the past. Only for the limited purpose of reviving the collective environment, physical design of living environment must be used.The value of experience design that drives city brands
We establish relationships with brands through certain experiences, and all people are connected to brands. A brand, in itself, signifies the internal standard and pillar of external practice, and branding refers to proving the reasons for existence and the uniqueness of the subject, creating and protecting principles and standards, and practicing these to live independently within a relationship.