Hair how-tos and curious chairs: The best projects from Seoul Design festival

If you were to walk into one of the most striking structures in Seoul – Dongdaemun Design Plaza – just weeks ago, you would have found some of the city’s freshest projects across product design, architecture and branding organised under one sculptural roof.

Seoul Design festival has been running for 21 years and, during that stretch, 5,615 designers have been spotlighted through the event. The idea of the festival is to act as a stepping stone, for designers to be discovered by an international audience and for visitors to step into the burgeoning design scene that exists in Korea. Organised by Seoul Design Foundation and Seoul Metropolitan Government, this year’s edition operated under the “hot potato” theme of sustainability, as the Foundation’s design industrial support team manager Jung Hyosoon puts it.

But, first, Seoul Design confronted the elephant in the room when it comes to sustainability: lip service is high.

“I don’t know the meaning of sustainability,” said Shigeru Ban in a talk with Designboom founder Birgit Lohmann and Design House CEO Lee Young-hye. Reflecting on his work creating paper structures – like his famed cardboard cathedral – and using recycled materials “before it was a buzzword”, the architect addressed how we need a complete reappraisal in architecture today about what passes for good design. After all, how can a beautiful concrete structure that will last no longer than a few years continue to be seen as successful?

We saw this theme tackled in countless ways when diving deeper into the festival, from individual projects to installations exploring emergency housing. But there was optimism and even playfulness too – the festival identity even, has moved from a more “luxurious” tone in previous years to something fun and readable, according to Jung Hyosoon. Here are a few projects that caught our attention within the DDP and the topics on the minds of their designers, from the challenges of sustainable production to a trend-soaked market.

Yinka Ilori x MCM

A collaboration between the luxury fashion brand MCM and the British artist and designer Yinka Ilori could also be found. The project explores the concept of upcycling via ten chairs in electric colourways, with extra legs protruding from some and telescopes jutting from others. The material for each was sourced from leftover MCM products and invites us to find beauty in discarded objects. Hence the telescopes; the public is invited to look into the chairs and see beautiful refractions.

It’s interesting to see Yinka’s work in this context. This collaboration is his first ever time exhibiting in Korea – a market where he is less-known, according to MCM. But at Seoul Design, his ambition to connect with audiences through colour and storytelling is as successful as ever. After we heard about the urgency of sustainable practices in the opening panel, it’s uplifting to see the joy that can be derived from methods like upcycling too.

When Seoul Design first began linking designers with businesses, “it was a challenge to match people”, says Jung Hyosoon, with only eight pairs in its first year. This year, Seoul Design matched 280 designers with brands, each creating projects similar to these four students from University of Seoul. It’s a different format to that which you might find from the likes of London Design Festival or similar, but this more corporate approach has clearly given way to exciting concepts, and possibilities for the designers behind them. We look forward to see where this rapidly expanding event goes next.