Applications for the public-sector ‘Seoul Design Award 2024’ accepted through May 28

Theme: ‘Sustainable Design in Which People, Society, and Nature Are in Harmony’

The Seoul Design Foundation is accepting entries worldwide for the ‘Seoul Design Award 2024’ project through May 28. Now in its fifth year, the Seoul Design Award has drawn participation from a cumulative total of 62 countries around the world over the past four years.

The theme of this year's Seoul Design Award 2024 is ‘Sustainable Design in Which People, Society, and Nature Are in Harmony.’ Winners are selected with a focus on projects that can contribute to achieving the UN's SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), and applicants are asked to select the relevant items among the 17 goals when submitting their entry.

Winners will be determined through the review of world-class experts and announced at the Seoul Design Award ceremony in October. In 2023, a total of 2,384 citizens from 60 countries around the world took part in the vote to select the Citizens' Award. Winning entries from the previous year can be viewed on the Seoul Design Award website.

The 2023 Grand Prize went to Tunisia's ‘Kumulus Amphora, 2023,’ which provides safe drinking water using solar heat and moisture in the air. Winners from 2021 include ‘House of Dreams,’ which transformed an old cave that had been abandoned and left neglected in Dengfeng (Zhoushan) village, Henan Province, China, into a community space that anyone can use.

Winners receive a trophy and prize money, along with various promotional opportunities such as being featured in a 2024 publication. The ceremony will be held at the DDP in October. This year, a total of 27 teams (including multiple awards) are scheduled to be recognized. In Category 1, the one Grand Prize team will receive 50 million won in prize money, and the three Best Award teams will each receive 15 million won.

Lee Kyung-don, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation, shared his thoughts, saying, “As a platform that encourages designers with a positive influence, the Seoul Design Award will continue to reflect together on the urban and social problems facing people around the world and share creative solutions.”

▲ The Seoul Design Foundation is accepting entries worldwide for the ‘Seoul Design Award 2024’ project through May 28.