British designer Thomas Heatherwick has been appointed as the General Director of the 5th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, which will take place from 1 September to 31 October 2025.

The news was posted on Heatherwick Studio's Instagram account on 3 June, with a photograph of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon with Thomas Heatherwick. 

First launched in 2017, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture And Urbanism (SBAU), the conference tackles issues pertaining to urban planning and architecture that arise from swift urban expansion in one of the world's most populous cities. 

Thomas Heatherwick, founder of Heatherwick Studio. Image © Elena Heatherwick

The Biennale intends to use Seoul as a testbed as it investigates and looks for solutions for urban problems in global cities, with a main theme and subthemes.

Over the past seven years, there have been four editions of this largest architecture biennale in Asia, which has drawn close to three million participants. 

Leveraging the city's aspiration for a future that is human-centered and climate-friendly, the 2025 program will investigate methods on "how to make buildings and cities radically more joyful and engaging," addressing to Thomas Heatherwick's Humanise Campaign.

"We are honoured and thrilled by this appointment to curate our first Biennale," commented Thomas Heatherwick in the firm's Instagram post. 

"There are over 300 biennales taking place around the world today." 

"But the original ambition to use them as vehicles for debate and engagement with the public, too easily gets lost in professional echo-chambers, which most ordinary people don’t engage with," Heatherwick explained.

"We plan to turn the concept of a biennale inside out and create a big, full-throttle conversation with Seoulites. We want to get to the heart of what matters to them and their city and help make new buildings in Seoul radically more human," he added.

Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, and Thomas Heatherwick. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Government of Seoul

Last week, Heatherwick also unveiled design for Seoul’s Nodeul Island with "fragmented floating islets". Called Soundscape, the project aims to serve as a public space for musical performances and artistic interventions in a dynamic and fragmented structure. The studio is also working on a new public space - called The Leaf - on the Han River in South Korea. 

The Seoul Biennale of Architecture And Urbanism 2021 was directed by French architect and urban planner Dominique Perrault, founder and principal of Dominique Perrault Architecture.

Top image in the article: Soundscape. Image © MIR.

> via Heatherwick Studio 

General Director Seoul Biennale of Architecture And Urbanism Thomas Heatherwick