In 2025, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (Seoul Biennale) will celebrate its fifth edition and tenth year of operation. The Seoul Biennale, which began in 2017, has provided an experimental platform for investigating innovative solutions to the challenges faced by major global cities today.

For the 2025 fifth edition, Thomas Heatherwick has been appointed General Director by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. 

Heatherwick is recognized for his inventive design philosophy and imaginative vision, with the goal of broadening the basis of architectural culture through discussions that include not just urban architecture but a range of cultural fields.

The fifth Seoul Biennale has adopted the theme "Radically More Human" to investigate how cities and buildings can be made more joyful and engaging, in line with the vision of a human-centered and climate-friendly future city. The theme pays tribute to Heatherwick's Humanise campaign, which he started in 2023. 

In September and October 2025, the 5th edition of the Seoul Biennale will take place, focusing on ways to make the city fundamentally more human-centric. A dramatic new public installation and a creative activity programme in Songhyeon Green Plaza will bring this theme to life, alongside a two-day global conference and a series of public exhibitions, inviting Seoulites to participate in a city-wide conversation about how building exteriors impact their lives.

"What you will see in this Biennale is the real voice of Seoulites. We have picked an extraordinary group of creators and communities with powerful ideas that will challenge the way you understand how buildings change our lives," said Thomas Heatherwick, General Director of the 2025 Biennale. 

"They are all passionate about connecting everyday architecture with the big social issues that confront us in cities today – loneliness, togetherness, division and belonging – and coming up with real world solutions expressed through the outsides of buildings," he added.

Moreover, the General Director has proposed a key visual that intuitively conveys the theme to engage both domestic and international audiences. Illustrations and text that are hand-drawn fuse the terms “Seoul” and “eye.” The design uses the metaphor of a blinking eye to extend an invitation to imagine methods for making cities and buildings more attractive and enjoyable.

For detailed information regarding the open calls, and application processes, please visit the Seoul Biennale website and their Instagram.

The top image in the article courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.

> via Heatherwick Studio

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