Thomas Heatherwick has been named the General Director of the fifth Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, which will take place from September 1 to October 31, 2025.
Founded in 2017, the Seoul Biennale serves as an experimental ground for discovering innovative solutions to pressing challenges encountered by major global cities today. It is Asia’s largest architecture biennale and has engaged close to 3 million individuals across four editions over the past seven years.
Aligned with the city’s vision for a future that prioritizes people and the environment, the 2025 program will investigate methods to enhance the enjoyment and interactivity of buildings and cities significantly.
According to the announcement, Thomas Heatherwick said: “We are honoured and thrilled by this appointment to curate our first Biennale. 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.”
“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.”
Additionally, Heatherwick Studio recently unveiled their plan to create a new public park on an artificial island in the middle of Seoul on the Han River. Their design, among numerous other submissions, won the worldwide competition. The goal of the Soundscape project is to construct a series of striking areas at various elevations. A location for musical events and artistic interventions amidst the biodiverse terrain is part of the concept.
