Submissions open through September; specialized design elevates housing quality
Realizing people-centered residential complexes through the restoration of residential communities
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Minister Noh Hyeong-wook) is accepting entries for the <4th Republic of Korea Public Housing Design Competition> through September. The final winning entries are scheduled to be selected in November.
Since 2018, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been promoting design-specialized design competitions to encourage diverse and creative public housing designs in line with changing residential trends and lifestyles driven by demographic, economic, social, and environmental factors as well as advances in housing technology.
In particular, this year the Wanju Sambong 2 A-3BL district—one of the winning sites from 2018—is nearing completion (Dec. 2021), and an awards ceremony and FAM tour will be held at the completed district so that the public can directly experience the transformed appearance of public housing.
Now in its fourth year, this year's design competition serves as a stage for design innovation that reflects the residential culture reshaped by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and aims to realize people-centered residential complexes through the restoration of residential communities. Housing is expected to be reimagined not simply as a space for individual living but as a dignified residential platform that reflects diverse needs such as jobs and childcare.
The submission methods for the <4th Republic of Korea Public Housing Design Competition> have been diversified—beyond the general competition, they now include separate competitions, integrated competitions, and special competitions—so that a wide range of design entities can participate.
To expand participation opportunities for emerging and small-scale architects, small districts will be integrated, while adjacent districts will be linked to maximize synergy effects such as serving as regional hubs.
In particular, this year a special competition format has been introduced, under which one district requiring creative ideas among the schematic-design separate competitions will be run as an inter-university competition; the winning team will be encouraged to participate in the basic design, and scholarships will also be awarded to their university. Alongside this, various events are planned, including a children's drawing contest and a design competition for completed projects (within the past five years).
For the <4th Republic of Korea Public Housing Design Competition>, works will be accepted through September, undergo review in October, and the winning entries will be announced in November. Final outstanding works (up to five) will be selected through a nationwide public preference survey (online public vote, www.khousing.org) of the winning entries, with awards presented in December.
For this year's design competition, eight public corporations applied with a total of 20 sites—9 in the Seoul metropolitan area and 11 outside it—a 20% increase over last year. Through this, benefits are expected to reach a wider range of social groups and regions, not only through public housing projects and the Urban Regeneration New Deal but also through job-linked and community-improvement projects. Meanwhile, starting with the institutions participating in the 2021 design competition, additional points (0.5 points) will be granted in the management evaluation of local public enterprises (metropolitan level).
Kim Gyu-cheol, head of the Public Housing Promotion Group at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "Through continued collaboration with local public enterprises, we will keep working to spread design competitions nationwide so that all citizens can experience improved public housing."