Humanising our Cities
Heatherwick Studio believes that emotion is the crucial ingredient that is missing in so much of design today. When did everything become so boring and homogenous? Who is really thinking about how to make buildings, places and objects mean something to us - to lift our spirits and connect us? How can we make our cities more human? World-renowned designer Thomas Heatherwick will outline his thoughts around how designers and policy makers can create more human places, and explain how a fundamental understanding of emotion has shaped how Heatherwick Studio works across all scales and typologies. Thomas Heatherwick is one of the UK’s most prolific designers, whose varied work over two decades is characterised by its originality, inventiveness and humanity. Defying conventional classifications, Thomas founded his studio in 1994 to bring together architecture, urban planning, product design and interiors into a single creative workspace. Working across multiple scales, locations and typologies, Heatherwick Studio has developed into a team of 200 makers and inventors with no signature style. Lead by human experience rather than any fixed dogma, the studio create emotionally compelling places and objects with the smallest possible climate shadow. From their base in London, the studio team is currently working on over 30 projects in ten countries, including Azabudai Hills, a six-hectare mixed-use development in the centre of Tokyo, the new headquarters for Google in Silicon Valley and London (in collaboration with Bjarke Ingels Group) and Airo, an electric car that cleans the air as it drives. The studio has also recently completed Little Island, a park and performance space on the Hudson River in New York; the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town; and Coal Drops Yard, a major new retail district in King’s Cross, London. Thomas’ forthcoming book, Humanise, will be published by Penguin in 2023
City for Disabilities going for tour and culture
From the point of view of mobility-impaired wheelchair users, barrier-free design and universal design are quite different. As Korea is heading towards becoming an aging society, it is expected that the demand for accessibility will increase. The gap must be filled through the application of universal design. Urban life for the mobility-impaired The way in which the mobility-impaired people use the city is very different from that of the non-disabled people. Typically, there is a difference between infrastructure and daily needs. Because disabled people using wheelchairs have difficulty using public transportation, it is common either to use an adaptive taxi that can accommodate a wheelchair or to reduce the frequency of going out. Therefore, mobility is limited, and long-distance movement is impossible, so connection between regions is significantly reduced. Most mobility-impaired people have a great fear of moving out of their place of residence. There are also differences in the way they move. Many older subway stations do not have elevators because the anti-discrimination laws did not apply in the past. In fact, it's only been a few years since wheelchair users have actually been able to ride the subway since related laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) started to take effect. Stairs were removed, escalators were installed, and facilities were installed to allow wheelchair users to move between floors. In addition, there is a problem in that information about the location display of the disabled toilet or elevator is not properly given due to lack of awareness of the versatility of the information acquisition method. This is usually a problem caused by the fact that supplier-oriented guide signs are made, and people with mobility difficulties, travelers with language barriers, and tourists with difficulties feel the inconvenience.
The Necessity of Introducing Pedestrian Application for the Visually Impaired to Build a Smart City Based on Universal Design
Accessibility means that disabled and non-disabled people can use all services and products equally, and it can be said that it is in line with universal design that pursues design for everyone. So, how can people with disabilities communicate externally? They are being helped by various assistive technologies. Assistive technology refers to all products, equipment, software, or systems that help individuals with disabilities to achieve their full potential. As the concept of assistive technology becomes universal, the paradigm for disability has changed. As a representative example, screen readers and electronic information terminals are assistive technologies that help visually impaired people to communicate, and include screen readers and electronic information terminals. With technological help, visually impaired people can independently perform various tasks, such as searching the Internet and writing documents. Today, these assistive technologies are being applied in a way that provides convenient services to anyone rather than being a technology only for the disabled. For example, audiobooks, which existed in the past as a service to help visually impaired people in reading, are now becoming universal as a technology for everyone, as it has become one of the types of reading that non-disabled people can choose according to their needs.
3rd Pre-forum for 2022 Seoul Design International Forum Part2
TALK 2. Values in daily lives that were changed by the public design
2022 SDIF_Promo Video
2022 SDIF_Promo Video[Keynote Session 2] Service Design for the Desirable Cities – Smart Living through Design
[Birgit Mager] What Makes Cities Desirable? When we consider desirable cities, urban design and aesthetics - which we discussed extensively in the morning session - are crucial elements. This includes architecture, planning, public spaces, and historic preservation. However, these aspects alone don't complete the picture. A truly desirable city encompasses multiple dimensions. We must consider livability, economic opportunity, and sustainability. Infrastructure and mobility play vital roles, alongside community and social cohesion. Culture and lifestyle shape the city's character, while education and innovation drive its future. Resilience ensures its longevity, and governance and leadership guide its development. All these aspects can be addressed through design, particularly service design - a field I began teaching in 1995 when it was entirely new. Over the past 30 years, I've had the privilege of experimenting with, framing, and expanding this field until it became what we might call "the new normal" in many organizations and governments worldwide.
Better Cities through Design to Improve Life
The Index Project was started in 2002 to educate and encourage people worldwide to draw sustainable solutions to global and social issues. Design and design processes engage in improving the quality of our lives and the community. The project is based on a “design to improve life,” a concept that has been mentioned since 2002. Thus, we take a user-centered design approach and consider their impact on sustainable society, economy, and environment.Senior life in the era of Ageing society
According to the World Population Ageing 2020 published by UN, the Ageing population that consists of those who are 65 years old and older has reached 720 million people in the world as of 2020, and is predicted to account for 1/6th of the global population in 2050. Our society is also at the brink of entering the super-aged society as the baby boomer generation transferred into the elderly population starting from 2020. The expansion of the ageing population could be seen as a result of a natural phenomenon in the midst of the extended life expectancy of human on the back of advancement in the medical science and technology. The change in the demographic composition is a critical factor that determines the future of humanity. In particular, since a dramatic change in the demographic structure such as ageing can lead to various changes in the local community, global efforts are being made to seek out multi-angular countermeasures to ageing.
Creative Design for Social Problem Solving and Social Responsibility Therethrough
The top 10% of the world's population are able to spend $10 a day (about 10,000 won). This means that the other 90%, being unable to spend $10 a day, are very poor. 80% of them spend only about $2 a day. Design is not about making things pretty and beautiful to increase sales, but about finding and solving problems in a certain situation. Solving problems in an innovative and creative way is an essential part of design. Which group has more problems in life: the 10% of the population who can spend $10 a day or the 90% who can't? The 10% of people have issues with desires, and 90% have issues with needs. In other words, 90% of people have problems that are directly related to survival and they need to be considered more seriously. But 99.9% of designers only design for the top 10%. The real social problem is to leave it alone and only engage in the problem of fueling human desires.
Universal design that makes life easier for citizens
Design is an essential tool for making life easier for citizens. Good design eliminates user discomfort and this is a quality that applies equally regardless of the presence or absence of a disability. Therefore, I think universal design is a design that considers the needs of all people. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been pushing for UD guidelines since 2010 for facilities for teenagers, the elderly, the disabled, and children, who are various users of welfare facilities, and has been consulting actual welfare facilities with these guidelines.Seoul Design International Forum 2025✨: Attractive City of Seoul - Designing a Better Global Life (Event Information)
Hello! Here’s some exciting news for those interested in design, cities, and a sustainable future. The Seoul Design International Forum 2025 will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, September 19, 2025, in the Multipurpose Hall, 8th floor of Seoul City Hall. This forum will be a gathering to share visions and strategies for leading Seoul as a world-class design city, bringing together renowned speakers and experts from Korea and abroad. We’re truly looking forward to it!Architect in action, Shigeru Ban: The power of space and architecture
Can designers help humanity? I've had this thought before. If the Earth enters a post-apocalyptic era (like the destruction of the Earth or the end of humanity, which appears quite often in movies), only a small group of people who are essential for the survival of humanity can take shelter, cab architects or space designers should join that group? This is also a light question about whether architects or space designers are doing the work necessary for our society and humanity. Of course, my personal opinion is that they should join the group. First of all, it would be difficult to create a shelter without an architect or space expert. Otherwise, wouldn't the place become a crucible of chaos? The subtitle of the book <Paper Architecture in Action> (2019, Minumsa publishing) written by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is ‘What can architects do for society?’ From the public's point of view, rather than from the fields of architecture, space, or design, architecture is a tangible entity that creates the landscape of a city. Most people recognize architecture as a landmark, a base, or something that symbolizes something. The lifespan of architecture is also quite long, or more accurately, it should be long, so the experience of architecture is difficult to be fragmented or specific.